Unending Light
by KHLostEmpress
Summary: Sequel to Final Hope. Hikari has disappeared, erased from existence and from the memories of all those who knew her. Now the Digidestined have to find her before she is forever lost in darkness. Pairings: Takari, Sorato, Kenyako and Koumi
1. Promise

Author's Notes: There are a few things I need to explain before we begin, so just bear with me here.

I decided to have this story take place _before_ Takeru gives Hikari the promise ring. There are two distinct reasons for this. The first one is that I wanted the promise ring to have a certain place in the story, while the second one is I wanted this to happen during the December Break which is before Takeru gives her the ring.

So, after saying that, everyone's ages in this story is going to be similar to Final Hope. I don't know the Digidestined's birthdays, so I can't say for sure how old they are, but everyone is in the same grade at least.

_Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon._

* * *

Takeru questioned his decision to ask Mimi for help. At the time when he asked, it seemed like the sensible thing to do. She was, after all, the expert of the group in the certain area he needed help with, but he was wondering if she would be able to keep this to herself long enough for his plan to actually come to pass. So, in some sort of attempt to keep the information just between them, he had asked her not to meet him at the specific store he wanted to shop in, but rather just inside the mall, where he could calmly explain what he wanted, instead of telling her over the phone. He wasn't exactly sure what her reaction would be, but he didn't want Sora or Miyako accidentally finding out about this, if at all possible. He could tell she was curious and just a little bit suspicious over the phone, but he knew she would never turn down a friend who had requested help, despite whatever help they might need.

Which all lead right into his current situation, which happened to be him standing just inside the entrance to the mall, with his heart rising to his throat as he watched Mimi walk towards him. He knew it was from more than just the chance that Mimi might tell someone what they were going to do. It was _what_ he was going to do. When he first heard about them, it seemed like a great idea. Everything between himself and Hikari had been great in the months since they defeated Daemon. He had already told her that they would be together forever, but he knew if he went through with his plan, if he bought the item he was seeking Mimi's advice on, it would be a physical manifestation of his promise to her, and he was slightly nervous that Hikari wouldn't accept it. Not _too _nervous, he knew that Hikari had the same feelings as him, but just enough to want to tell Mimi that he didn't need her help anymore and to just go home and forget his plan all together.

"Hi, Takeru," Mimi said with a sincere smile as she finally reached him. "How are you?"

"Great," he said, surprised a little that he actually meant it. A few seconds ago, he wouldn't have been able to say it truthfully, but now that Mimi was actually here in front of him, his earlier resolve (the same resolve that caused him to pick up the phone and call Mimi to ask for her help) came rushing back to him.

"What do you need help with?" Mimi asked.

Takeru decided to just be direct and said, "I need help picking out a ring for Hikari." He was about to explain more, but didn't get any further as Mimi let out a squeal and grabbed his arms. He backed up a step in shock, glancing around them as other customers stopped to stare. "Mimi," he began to say, but once again, didn't get any further than that.

"No way!" Mimi squealed. "You're going to _propose_ to Hikari?" He was shocked for only about half a second, but his slight hesitation was long enough for Mimi to continue before he could explain as she said, "You guys are a bit young, not even Yamato has asked Sora yet, but that is just _too_ romantic. I would be_ delighted_ to help you. Hikari is going to look so pretty as a bride. Have you told your mother yet? Are you getting married after you graduate or are you going to wait a while? I've always said you two just make the _cutest_ couple. I'm just so happy for you."

As Mimi paused to take a breath, Takeru decided that he should probably set her straight before someone they knew heard her and passed it along. "Please, Mimi, stop," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. This seemed to calm her down, but she still had those sparkles in her eyes. He hated to crush her, but he was not actually about to propose to Hikari. He certainly intended to at some point, but that time was in the future. As Mimi had pointed out, he and Hikari were still too young to quite be at _that_ point in their relationship. "I am not proposing to Hikari," he said firmly and patiently.

Confusion flocked into Mimi's eyes as she said, "But you said you were going to pick a ring."

"Yes," Takeru said slightly exasperated at his overenthusiastic friend. "But not an _engagement_ ring. I want to give Hikari a promise ring," he explained softly as he felt the blush creeping up on his cheeks.

"A promise ring," Mimi repeated. Then she smiled and Takeru caught a teasing glint in her eyes as she said, "Isn't that like a pre-engagement ring?"

"Sort of," Takeru admitted.

Mimi's face split into a wide grin. "So, it'll be like you're proposing to Hikari without actually proposing to her, right?"

Takeru sighed, not really wanted to explain to Mimi that he might have actually already sort of proposed to Hikari without proposing to her with his whole "I'll be with you forever" line, without the help of a promise ring. "I guess," he conceded, allowing Mimi the victory of this particular conversation. "But that's not really the point," he continued, trying to get the conversation back to what he originally imagined it going. "I asked you here to help me pick one out since you know about this stuff."

Mimi grinned, and said, "Of course, I'll help you, Takeru."

Takeru wasn't sure whether the triumphant hint in that smile was a good or bad thing for him. Deciding that it might be best if he didn't know, he simply just said, "Thanks, Mimi." He returned her smile before continuing, "The store is this way." He pointed down one of the hallways. As they started to walk, he asked, "So what would you suggest?"

"Hmm," Mimi said. "Well, since it is Hikari, I would suggest something simple and elegant. Since it is a promise ring, I wouldn't get a diamond. Some people might get the wrong idea. I have some ideas for the stone, but I'll wait until we get to the store. And I'm guessing nothing too expensive, because you are still in high school. You can save that until you're married, and I'd rather think that Hikari wouldn't really care how expensive it is."

Wondering for a moment if Mimi's mindset that it was a given that he and Hikari would eventually get married was just her own opinion or if the sentiment was shared with some of the other Digidestined, he just nodded his head at her suggestions. She continued to talk about cuts, settings, and carats (he didn't quite understand half of what she was talking about, but then again, that _was_ the reason he asked for Mimi's help in the first place) until they walked into the store.

A store associate walked up to them and asked if they needed assistance. Mimi waved him off with a "just browsing" line, she started walking up and down the cases. "Now, sapphires are pretty, but blue isn't really Hikari's thing. An emerald might be a possibility, given that _you_ like green, but I really think that maybe we should forgo the precious gems, since they're just too flashy for Hikari right now. Which rules out rubies or amethysts or anything like that," she said passing by some cases with said gems in them. Takeru just followed along, smiling at her. He knew that Mimi had been the right choice to ask for help. "A pearl could be a possibility, if we can't find the stone I'm thinking of—Aha!" she cried coming to a stop in front of a case. "In my opinion, this is what you should get her."

Takeru came up next to Mimi and looked down at the pieces that she was pointing at. At first glance, the stones appeared to be white, but upon closer examination, Takeru could see all sorts of colors shimmering across the stones' smooth surfaces. Takeru had to agree that it was a beautiful stone, but he wondered why Mimi had this particular stone in mind, seemingly from the beginning as well. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's called an opal," she said. She smiled at him. "Do you know how different stones and gems have meanings?"

"I guess," Takeru said having been vaguely aware of it. He had no idea, however, what her purpose was in bringing up that certain subject. Thinking it was Mimi just wanting to ramble on about something else she knew about jewelry, he went ahead and asked, "Why?"

"Well, the opal is a symbol as well," Mimi explained. "It has a special meaning. It is called the stone of hope."

Takeru smiled, finally getting where she was going with this. "And it has all the colors of light in it, right?"

She nodded, grinning. "You have to admit, it's kind of perfect for you two. Which is why I thought of it first."

"Mimi, thank you," Takeru said. "You're right. It's perfect."

Despite agreeing on buying the opal, they still spent another hour in the store, deciding on which cut the stone should be and what the setting should be. Mimi's talk of white-gold versus yellow-gold versus silver versus whatever else she said went right over Takeru's head. He finally gave up trying to keep up with what she was saying and just asked her to pick whatever she thought Hikari would like best, since he had no idea. Despite how much he and Hikari talked, he couldn't remember a time when Hikari's preferences in jewelry ever came up.

They found a ring they could both agree on. "Do you know what Hikari's ring size is?" Mimi asked after she called the store associate over to them to open the case.

"Not really," Takeru admitted. He chuckled a little and added, "Tiny?"

Mimi rolled her eyes at him. "I never thought I'd say this, but you're hopeless." She sighed. "We'll just have to guess and I'll confirm with Hikari later. If we guess wrong, we'll come back and get it resized. I can't believe you guys have never talked about this stuff," she added with a huff.

Takeru shrugged. "Sorry. Hikari doesn't usually wear much jewelry and this is the first piece I've bought for her. The subject's just never come up before."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're worse than Yamato, and I didn't think that was possible."

Before he could ask what she meant by that, the store associate came up to them and asked what he could do. Mimi pointed out the ring they had picked. "You know, why don't you know her ring size?" Takeru asked. Mimi furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, so Takeru continued, "You girls spent a whole three months living together. How come it never came up then?"

"We had much more important things to talk about than ring sizes," Mimi explained, slight exasperated. "Besides, girls don't usually buy expensive rings for each other, so the point is moot. _And_, if you recall, you and Hikari spent most of those three months together, while Hikari was only in apartment in the evening."

"Good point," Takeru admitted. They bought the ring and left the store. Takeru offered to walk Mimi home, but she told him she was going to meet Sora not far from where they were, so there was really no need.

"I'll ask Hikari about her ring size, and get back to you later, okay?"

Takeru nodded in agreement. Before she left, Takeru had to ask, "You're going to keep this a secret, right?"

"Of course, Takeru," she said.

"I mean, you're not going to tell Sora, Miyako, Taichi, or even Koushiro? I don't want anyone to know," he added.

Mimi smiled at him. "You have my word that no one will hear about it from me," she said.

Takeru returned her smile, still slightly apprehensive. Mimi wasn't exactly known for being subtle about anything. "Thank you for coming, Mimi," he said sincerely grateful that he had friends that he could count on to help, no matter what help the situation called for.

"You're welcome," she said. She stood up on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek. "I'll take it back," she said with a grin. "Maybe you're not so hopeless after all."

Takeru laughed and waved her off as she turned and practically bounded away.

* * *

Hikari walked to school alone one morning, just a few days before the end of the second trimester of her third year in high school. It was rather unusual for her to walk alone now, since Takeru usually came and walked with her. But he had sent a message to her saying that he was running a little behind that morning and that she should go on without him. It wasn't very common for Takeru to be running late, but it wasn't necessarily unheard of, considering his love of sleep and that he wasn't really as overly fond of snow as she was. So, she was without company in the brisk morning air as snow drifted down from the sky. It was hardly snowing hard, but just enough that she wished she had Takeru's arm to hold onto in the possibility of slipping and falling.

Lucky enough, she arrived at the school unscathed, if a little wet from the snow. She was a little disappointed when she arrived at the classroom and Takeru wasn't there yet. He still had a while before class started, so she wasn't worried that he would be late, but it still saddened her that she couldn't see him yet.

"Good morning, Hikari-chan," one of her friends, Kotone, greeted as she walked to her desk.

"Good morning," she answered as she placed her bag on her chair. Kotone and two more of her friends, Ayano and Nanako, walked up to her. They glanced at each other nervously. Hikari asked, confused, "What is it?"

"Is everything…okay between you and Takaishi-kun?" Ayano asked, her hands wringing together in agitation.

Hikari blinked in surprise and then laughed. "Just because Takeru and I didn't walk to school together, doesn't mean we've broken up," she assured her friends, starting to wonder if she and Takeru really did spend _that_ much time together that all it took was seeing them not together once before other people came to the conclusion that they weren't together anymore. The three girls exchanged nervous glances again. "Why do you ask?" Hikari asked curious.

"I know it's not really our business," Nanako said, quietly. "But…we just don't want to see you hurt, Hikari-chan."

"You've been so much happier since Takaishi-kun came here," Kotone added. "But…"

"Yesterday, we saw Takaishi-kun with another girl at the mall," Ayano said in a rush. "We couldn't hear what they were talking about, but they smiled and laughed a lot and the girl kissed him on the cheek before she left."

"I see," Hikari asked. She didn't doubt Takeru's love for her. She really didn't. She was just very confused on what could have happened at the mall. If it was really Takeru they saw at all. "Perhaps it wasn't him," she said.

"Maybe," Nanako agreed reluctantly. "But Takaishi-kun—"

"What about me?" Takeru asked from behind them. Hikari smiled and turned to look at him. She could hear the playful tone in his voice, so she knew he wasn't mad that they were talking about him. He had come to accept that she and her friends just liked talking about their boyfriends (and any other boys, for that matter).

"It seems that you are busted," Hikari said, teasingly, trying to see what he would do or say.

She didn't expect to see panic flash across his eyes. Something _was_ going on, which just confused her more. He seemed to sigh exasperatedly. "Mimi told you after _one day_?"

Hikari's jaw dropped in shock. "Let me get this straight," she said. "You went to the _mall_ with _Mimi_?" she asked. "_Voluntarily_?"

"Yes," Takeru said slowly confusion now flocking his eyes. "We went yesterday. I needed her advice on something."

At which point, Hikari burst into laughter. Both her friends and Takeru tried to ask her what was going on, but she was laughing too hard to tell them. She had known that her friends' worries about Takeru hadn't been true, but just hearing that he had gone to the mall with Mimi of all people (something that she usually avoided if at all possible) was just too funny. But she knew she owed some kind of explanation to her friends, who were clearly just concerned about her. She reigned in her laughter long enough to say, "I appreciate that you were worried about me, but there is nothing to be worried about. Mimi is a good friend of ours. She sees Takeru as a little brother, nothing more, I assure you."

Her three friends looked relieved at this information and wandered off to their seats, since the teacher was about to arrive. She and Takeru took their seats next to each other. "What was that all about?" Takeru asked.

"It seems they saw you yesterday with Mimi and sort of came to the wrong conclusion," Hikari explained smiling at him. "I didn't believe for a second that you would leave me for someone else, but then when I heard you were with Mimi, it just hit me as rather funny. Taichi regularly states that he wouldn't rather kill himself than spend one minute in _any_ store with Mimi."

Takeru smiled back at her. Before he could reply, the teacher walked in and called for order. He reached over and grasped her hand in his own hand, looking at her with such an intense love in his eyes that it quite nearly took her breath away. He squeezed her hand just once before letting it go and turned his attention to the teacher. She smiled again as she turned her attention to their teacher as well, knowing that she truly never had to worry that Takeru would ever leave her.


	2. Taken

"Hey, guys!" Miyako said as she and Ken sat down at the table across from Hikari and Takeru.

Hikari blinked at them in surprise. "How did you know we were here?" she blurted out, in her shock, forgetting to greet her friend back. She and Takeru had stopped at an ice cream parlor on a whim on the way home from school that day to commemorate the end of exams. It wasn't something they did fairly often or something they had ever really mentioned to the others, hence Hikari's honest confusion on how Miyako had found them.

Miyako got that glint in her eyes that Hikari recognized so well. It usually meant that she was about to gloat about something she had "brilliantly deduced". Hikari suddenly regretted her question and wished she had just accepted that somehow Miyako was there and said "hello" back. "Well," Miyako said. "I came to your school after it let out to congratulate my darling Ken," she said and Hikari tried not to smirk at how bright red Ken's face went at those words. "Since he finished his exams today, you know. I wanted to tell you something, but Ken told me that you two had already left. Since Takeru walks you home most every day, we walked towards your apartment. Luckily, my brilliant Ken," she said with emphasis, causing Ken's face to turn bright red again, "saw you guys sitting in here, so we dropped in."

"When we saw this shop on the way home, we decided to buy some celebratory ice cream, even though we still have to go to school for half of the day tomorrow," Takeru explained after a moment of silence once Miyako was done talking. He sighed dramatically, causing Hikari to roll her eyes, knowing she was about to get teased. "I honestly think Hikari's crazy, since it is freezing cold outside and she still wants a dessert that's frozen."

"It is rather odd that some people still enjoy eating cold things with the temperature as low as it is," Ken added quietly.

Hikari's mouth dropped in indignation as Takeru started to laugh. "Are you _teasing_ me, Ken?" she asked incredulously. He ducked his head shyly, but Hikari smiled. It was a vast improvement on both their parts in their friendship. Ken was too kind of a person to tease her while she had been mildly depressed for so long without Takeru, not to mention he had turned more hesitant and shy after his Digimon Emperor days, and she, in her sadness, had not taken teasing as well as she had used to. "You have been hanging out way too much with Miyako," she said laughing a little.

Miyako huffed. "I could say the same of you two," she said. Clearly she was miffed about something, but Hikari was at a loss of what it could be.

"What do you mean?" Takeru asked, which was the very question that Hikari had on the tip of her tongue.

"You and you," she said pointing to each of them in turn. "You have spent way too much time together. You so need to get out more. Which is why you are going with me and Ken on a date this Saturday, since it has come to my attention that we have yet to do so." She glared at them, as if daring either one of them to challenge her.

"Sounds like fun," Takeru said and Hikari glanced at him to find him grinning in amusement.

Hikari rolled her eyes. She loved her friend; she really did. It was hard not to like the cheerful, fun-loving girl, once you got past the initial loud/weird first impression she usually gave off. Hikari knew it probably hadn't really occurred to Miyako to actually _ask_ if they would like to go (obviously she hadn't run this past Ken yet or else he would have reminded her). She just smiled in resignation. "We'd love to go," she said. "Where would you like to meet?"

"I'll call you later with the details," Miyako said smiling brilliantly. She pulled Ken out of his seat as she said, "Come on, Ken. I've got to get home before Mimi gets to the TV first." She marched to the door, half dragging Ken along behind her as he called out a hasty good-bye to Takeru and Hikari.

"That was…interesting," Takeru finished after a pause as if he was searching for the right word.

"Life with Miyako usually is," Hikari said.

* * *

"You know you might have asked them, Miyako," Ken remarked quietly as they quickly walked toward the girl's apartment.

"What do you mean?" Miyako asked, truly confused on what Ken was talking about.

"About the double date you have planned," Ken replied. "You could have asked them."

Miyako stopped and turned to face her boyfriend. "But I did ask them," she stated firmly, but she could hear the hesitance in her voice. Ken usually wouldn't bring something up if he wasn't sure of what he was saying.

"No, Miyako," he said, sighing that sigh she knew so well. He usually did it when he was about to explain to her exactly _how_ she had just been rude to the customer or salesman or anyone else for that matter. "You just told them they were going with us on Saturday. You didn't ask."

Miyako paused, her eyebrows furrowing in thought. She thought back on the conversation she had with Takeru and Hikari and realized that Ken was right. She had just told them…okay, _demanded_ that they go on a date together this Saturday. She had just been miffed that Hikari had implied that she spent _too_ much time with her boyfriend (though really, she wasn't one to talk), when in Miyako's opinion, she couldn't seem to spend _enough_ time with Ken. "Oh," she said somewhat contrite about the situation. "I didn't mean to. I just sort of popped out that way." It wasn't like she didn't want to go out with the two of them; she really had been looking forward to the prospect of it ever since she had thought of it. She had been waiting to go on a double date with Hikari for _years_ now (she had almost given up hope that it would ever happen, since her friend was firmly on the path to spinster-ship before Takeru reappeared; Miyako almost could not _believe_ all the good-looking, nice guys her best friend kept turning down).

Ken placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know you didn't," he said with a smile. She also knew that smile very well. It was his smile that he shared when he wanted to reassure her that he knew exactly what her personality was like and that he loved her, though if he loved her for it or in spite of it, she could never quite determine sometimes.

She huffed in frustration. "Why does it always seem like _you're_ the older one in this relationship?" she asked, more in a rhetorically way than wanting a real answer. "It's really kind of unfair, you know."

He laughed softly, the barest hint of a chuckle that she was so used to from him. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, I love your child-like ways," he said, smiling brightly at her. "They certainly make life quite a bit more interesting when you're around."

Miyako's heart began to beat wildly at his words in a panic. Her eyes were instantly misty and her lip began to quiver. "You think I'm childish?" she asked, her voice slightly panicked.

His eyes went wide. "No, no," he assured her quickly. "Child-like, not childish. There's a difference. You have no qualms about getting straight to the point about anything, sincerely saying anything that comes to your mind. You have a caring, loving heart and want to help everyone you think might be in trouble."

Miyako instantly brightened, completely consoled at his words and practically jumped on Ken as she wrapped her arms around him. "You are the best boyfriend ever!" she cried, planting a kiss on his cheek. Ken's only response was to turn a brilliant red and mumble some kind of thanks before Miyako let him go and began to pull him along on the sidewalk again.

They continued their walk toward the apartment. A few minutes later, Ken asked somewhat nonchalantly, "So…when were you going to tell me that we are going on a date this Saturday?"

* * *

Yamato was truly content in many ways. He was, at the moment, on great terms with his girlfriend, his best friend, and his little brother. The only complaint he could come up with, at the moment, was that there was a soccer game being portrayed on the television, a sport that, despite the fact that it was one of the most treasured things in both his girlfriend's and best friend's lives, he had never quite managed to come to completely appreciate it. But he couldn't complain too much, as his girlfriend (the person who picked said thing being displayed on the television) was curled up against him on the couch to watch the game. He knew better than to think that she was here just for him, as she had clearly stated upon showing up at his doorstep that afternoon that she was tired of Miyako and Mimi bickering over what to watch (nice as the two girls usually were, you _did not_ want to come between them and their favorite shows).

The door clicked open, followed quickly by an over exaggerated groan from Taichi as the wild-haired boy announced his arrival. Sora chuckled softly at Taichi's behavior (or at least, Yamato _assumed_ it was at Taichi, since he didn't see anything in the soccer game that could have been found amusing, but he couldn't be positive).

"Welcome home, Taichi," he called to his friend.

"I'm telling you, Yamato. I am going to die if she doesn't stop—are you…are you watching soccer?" Taichi asked, stopping mid-sentence when he came into the room. "This is the game I was going to watch when I got home!" He walked past Yamato and Sora to flop down onto the other couch. "You never watch soccer—" He stopped as he finally looked over at where Yamato was sitting with Sora. "Oh," he said. "Hey, Sora. I…uh…didn't see you there."

"Hello, Taichi," she said and Yamato looked down at her to find her grinning in a rather disconcerting way. "Who were you talking about when you came in?" she asked.

Taichi heaved a sigh. "I don't want to talk about it," he said. "Anyway, did I…uh…interrupt something here?"

"No," Sora answered. "I was just escaping my sometimes crazy roommates."

They promptly began a discussion about the players, teams, and soccer techniques that Yamato didn't bother following very closely. He just smiled at that thought that the three of them could still hang out together as friends, despite the fact that this occasion happened to revolve around something he didn't particularly care for. It wasn't that he hated soccer; he just didn't love it fanatically like Taichi and Sora did. Eventually, the game ended and Sora clicked the television off. The three sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, until Sora asked, "Do you think we'll ever be done?"

"What are you talking about?" Taichi asked.

"You know, with the Digital World," Sora said shrugging slightly. "Do you think there will come a time when we won't need to be the Digidestined anymore?"

"I don't know," Yamato answered honestly. "I guess one day there could be new Digidestined to take our place and we wouldn't _need_ to be the Digidestined. But that doesn't mean we'll stop being Digidestined."

"I guess you're right," Sora said. "It's just…sometimes I get tired of things always going wrong, right when everything seems to be peaceful and good." She laughed. "I guess I should be grateful that we get a nice break in between the times when dark Digimon try to take over the worlds."

"Right," Taichi agreed heartily, his voice full of confidence. "We just defeated Daemon not too long ago. Honestly, what could go wrong now?"

* * *

When his phone rang that night, it took Takeru a few seconds to become alert enough to reach over and fish the thing off his desk, knocking his pencil holder over in the process, which banged on the wood rather loudly and spilt, from what he could hear, everything it to the floor. Hoping that his father was a heavy enough sleeper and hadn't woken up in Takeru's rather loud quest for his phone, he pushed the button that connected the call and groggily mumbled an almost unintelligible greeting into the phone.

There was a moment of silence, long enough for Takeru to almost hang up the phone on his would-be caller and curse their entire family for interrupting his sleep. But then a soft voice filtered from the phone to his drowsy mind.

"…Takeru?"

He sat up quickly. His alarm at hearing her troubled voice was pushing alertness into his entire being. "Hikari," he said masking his panic. "Are you all right?"

"I just…I just needed to hear your voice," she finally replied, but it was after a long enough pause that he knew she wasn't telling him everything.

"Do you need me to come over?" he asked, already getting out of bed, stepping on a few pencils in the dark, in the anticipation of running over to her and giving her the true comfort that he wanted to that just couldn't be given over a phone.

"No, it's all right," she answered a little too quickly. "I just had a nightmare, that's all, and…I don't know," she said. "I'm sorry for waking you up. It was really silly of me. I'll let you go back to sleep now."

"Hikari," he said quickly, trying to prevent her from hanging up the phone just yet. He knew he wouldn't get any sleep if he wasn't sure she was really all right. "I'm fine," he assured her. "Do you need me to come over?" he asked again more firmly this time to let her know that he was truly willing to walk over to her apartment in the middle of the night and comfort her if that was what she really needed.

There was a longer pause and if it hadn't been for the lack of a dial tone, Takeru would have thought she just hung up. But finally, she answered. "…Yes," she breathed. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Takeru replied, pulling on his clothes as he held the phone to his ear with his shoulder. "I'll be over in a few minutes. Just hang on."

"Thank you, Takeru," she said.

"You're welcome," he replied. Hikari hung up the phone and Takeru disconnected the call. He grabbed his D-3 and house key from the desk as he pulled his coat on. Wishing Patamon was here since he could have gotten Takeru to Hikari's apartment in a fraction of the time, he walked to his front door, pulled on his winter gear and shoes, and went out the door into the cold. He locked the door behind him before beginning his trek through the brisk night. He was glad that it was still December, since had it been January or February it would have been even colder, not that he still wouldn't have been willing to risk the cold for Hikari.

When he reached her apartment, he found her standing outside it, bundled in her own winter things. When he reached her, he wordlessly opened his arms and she let herself be gathered into them. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"I told you that I'm fine," Takeru replied. "What are you doing out here though? I wouldn't want you to get sick."

"I didn't want to wake up my parents," Hikari replied. "I've only been out for a few minutes," she added. "Besides, I decided that if you're going to get sick by walking through the snow to rescue me, I'd rather be sick with you because otherwise I'd feel really guilty. I'd actually still feel guilty, but probably a little less so if I shared your misery."

Takeru smiled and cupped her face with his hands. He lifted her face up so that she met his eyes. "I'd rather get sick rescuing you, than be perfectly healthy knowing that you are not all right."

She returned his smile and placed one of her hands over his. "Thank you, Takeru."

They walked down to the ground level and stood beneath a tree that was close to the apartments. It was their usual spot to linger after Takeru walked Hikari home from school on the days that Takeru couldn't stay long and had other things to do. Takeru wrapped her back in his arms, partly for warmth and partly because he just wanted to. "Do you want to tell me about your nightmare?" he asked.

For a while, she didn't answer, but Takeru press any further. He was here to comfort her, and if that didn't include listening to her retell her nightmare, then so be it. She would tell him when she was ready to relive it. As it turned out, he didn't have to wait very long this time before she spoke. "It was those shadow creatures from the Dark World," she said. "You know, the ones Dragomon created from the darkness?"

"What about them?" Takeru asked. It had been a while since Hikari had a nightmare about the Dark World. He knew she had a few right after their battle with Daemon, which he didn't blame her. He too had been haunted in his dreams about that dismal place after being taken there with her. About how close he had come to losing her.

He could feel her shudder in his arms. "They wanted me," she said. "I could hear their eerie voices calling out my name, luring me back into their world. When I woke up, I think I called you without really knowing what I was doing. I guess I just needed to make sure I was still here and you were still here and everything was still all right."

"I am here," he assured her. "I will always be here."

"I know," she said.

He pulled away from her just a bit. "Let's get you back inside before we freeze to death," he said, turning away to begin their walk back up to the apartment.

She laughed softly, giving him the assurance that she would sincerely be all right now. "I happen to _like_ the cold because it brings snow," she said.

"Don't I know it," he muttered, remembering being dragged to play in the snow in the Digital World by Hikari in the past previous months when snow was not so readily available in the real world. He had just taken his first step back to the apartments when he stopped as he heard Hikari's voice.

"Takeru?"

The way Hikari said his name made Takeru turn back to her fast enough to almost give himself whiplash. Hikari was standing stock-still; her eyes looked distant, like she was staring at something beyond what lay before them.

"What is it, Hikari?" he asked, reaching out to touch her face. She gasped at the contact and looked up at him with wild, panicked, unseeing eyes.

"Takeru, help me!" she cried.

His heart shattered at her frightened tone. Before he could say or do anything, Hikari faded away, vanishing into thin air, leaving his outstretched hand to comfort nothing but the vicious cold wind.


	3. Fever

Takeru looked at his hand for a moment before he let it drop to his side. He stared at the empty space before him, wondering what exactly it was that he had been reaching for just seconds before. There was nothing in front of him except falling snow. His mind felt foggy and unclear as he glanced around wondering where exactly he was and why he was standing under a tree in the middle of the night when it was freezing outside. The place looked vaguely familiar, like he had been there before. He looked up at the apartment complex behind him and blinked in confusion. The more his studied it the more he was definitely getting the feeling that he had been there before. He knew he should probably get home, given the time and temperature, but his confusion and curiosity were keeping him rooted to the spot.

After a minute or so, he remembered that this was where Taichi used to live before he moved in with Yamato. But he could not figure out why he had wandered, in the middle of the night no less, to the Yagamis' apartment. He shook his head. "Must be burnout from the exams," he muttered to himself. It was the only real logical explanation that he could think of.

As he started the walk back to his father's apartment, he thought about what could have gotten him out in the cold anyway. He usually didn't have trouble sleeping; his problems usually lied in waking up. He knew he had to go to school tomorrow albeit only for half the day, but he still didn't want to be falling asleep on his feet while he was in class. There was nothing he could think of (short of one of his friends being in trouble, which was clearly not the case here as he had been completely alone without a soul in sight) that would get him out of his warm cozy apartment and out walking, apparently aimlessly, in the cold, especially since it was snowing. He wasn't particularly fond of the stuff.

He unlocked the apartment door as he reached it and shucked his shoes off his feet and put away his winter things. He shuffled off to his room, tiptoeing past his father's room to his own, where he took off his clothes and pulled back on the sweatpants and t-shirt he usually wore to bed, which he found in a heap on the floor. He frowned slightly. Even if he was going off on some strange late night foray (though logic still could not place in his mind why), it was rather strange of him to leave his things on the floor. His mother was a rather tidy person, which she had sort of passed/forced onto him. He shook his head again, his mind still foggy and unable to make sense of the situation. As he walked towards the bed, he winced as he stepped on something. He bent down and found it to be a pencil with the rest of the things in his pencil holder scattered at the bottom of his desk. He now vaguely remembered knocking it over, but he couldn't remember why he hadn't picked up the stuff. He sighed and forced the thoughts away.

He collapsed onto his bed and shut his eyes, determined to forget the whole thing ever happened.

* * *

Takeru woke up to his alarm the next morning with his head feeling like it was stuffed with cotton. He knew he was probably at the beginning of a cold at the very least, thanks to his night walk, but he only had to go to school for half the day. He lay in bed for a few minutes with his arm draped over his eyes, trying to decide if it was actually worth leaving his comfort to face the day. He sighed and pulled back his blanket, coming to the conclusion that he really didn't feel that bad and would probably get better in a few hours.

He got out of bed, stepping on the fallen contents of his pencil holder _again_, so he took a minute to at least toss everything back onto the desk, telling himself that he would clean it up better later. He walked to the door and opened it. As he began to mosey into the other room, he was surprised to find his father sitting at the dining room table, drinking coffee out of a mug. It was unusual in the morning for his father not to be already gone to the station by the time he woke up.

With the shock of finding his father here and the cold making his mind not function at one hundred percent, he just stood there staring at his father, leaning against his doorframe. Hiroaki set his coffee mug down on the table and wrapped his hands around it. Silence fell between them for a moment until his father finally spoke. "Are you…are you all right, Takeru?" Hiroaki asked falteringly.

Takeru blinked in surprise. He never really felt neglected by his father, despite how much Hiroaki worked, but it wasn't really like him to express concern, which was evident given his completely "I am uncomfortable" air he was giving off. "I'm fine," Takeru said, wondering why his father was asking him.

"I…heard you last night," Hiroaki said after a slight pause.

Takeru frowned. "Sorry about that," he said, not knowing what else he could say since he would rather not explain what he had been doing wandering around in the middle of the night, especially since he was still hazy about the reasons that had dragged him out of bed.

"There isn't any trouble with…you know…the Digimon again, is there?" his father asked, stumbling over the words.

Takeru smiled. It made sense that his father would come to that conclusion. Any unusual behavior from his sons was usually explained by the interference of Digimon. "Not that I know of," he said. He then decided to feed his dad the line that he had come up with as the only logical reason for what he had been doing. "I was just burned out from the exams. Sorry for waking you up."

Hiroaki took a gulp from his cup. "It's fine," he said roughly. "As long as you're sure you're okay." He narrowed his eyes in Takeru's direction. "Are you sure you're all right? You're looking a little…" he trailed off as he made a vague hand gesture.

"I think it's just a little cold," Takeru said, explaining what he thought his father was referring to. "I'll be fine."

"Are you staying home?"

"Nah," Takeru said. "I don't feel terrible and it's only a half-day."

"You're sure?"

"I'll be fine," he repeated more firmly this time.

Hiroaki nodded and set down his mug in the kitchen before leaving out the door to go to work, telling Takeru good-bye as he left. Takeru went through his morning routine and made his way to the school. His replies to his classmates good morning calls were less enthusiastic than usual, but none of them seemed to notice. Iori caught him that morning as well, and frowning as he asked, "Are you okay, Takeru? You're looking a little under the weather, today, if you don't mind me saying so."

"I'll be fine," Takeru assured his friend the same way he had his father. He finally made his way to his classroom, where he practically collapsed into his seat.

It was a good thing that he only had to be here for half the day because he soon found out that he had been wrong that morning in his assessment of his health and instead of getting better, he steadily was beginning to feel worse. Soon there were only a few minutes left until the end of school, so he just decided to stick it out until he could go home and sleep away his vacation.

His eyes trailed to the empty seat beside him, and he just stared at it in confusion, conflicting thoughts suddenly cropping up and fighting in his mind. He _knew_. He knew without a doubt that no one sat in that seat, hadn't sat in that seat since the beginning of the school year, and yet somehow, for some reason, he _felt_ like someone should be sitting there. There was nothing logical to sustain it. It was really nothing more than a vague feeling that something was _missing_ more than anything else.

"Takeru?"

He startled and turned to look at Ken, who sat down in the seat next to him. His brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing here, Ken?" he asked, since the other boy usually did not come to his class.

Ken sort of gave him a worried frown. "School ended a while ago," Ken said. "I saw you sitting here when I walked past."

Takeru glanced around him and, for the first time, noticed that the room was empty except for himself and Ken. "Oh," he sighed. He didn't say anything else since his mind was in such a fog. He could feel the fever started to surface. He knew he should get home as soon as possible, but he couldn't seem to muster the strength at the moment to stand up.

"Are you all right?" Ken asked the third person that day to do so.

He was tempted. He was so tempted to tell Ken that he wasn't all right, because he _knew_ that was the truth, but still he said, "I'll be fine. I was up late last night."

"What were you doing?" Ken asked.

"Well, near as I can tell, I decided to go for a walk in the middle of the night," Takeru replied with a slight wry smile. The more he thought about last night the more the feeling that there had to have been some reason for him to be where he had been. But all he could come up with was that it had to have something to do with the Yagamis', since it was their apartment he found himself at, but he couldn't think of what it was. While he was getting steadily worse in this sickness that was afflicting him, he was aware that he wasn't thinking very well at all in any case.

"It had to be below freezing at the time," Ken said incredulously.

"Yes, I imagine that it was," Takeru replied simply, still trying to reach into his foggy mind for the reason that seemed to be eluding him.

"Why did you go?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Takeru replied finally giving up on his quest for a reason. He decided that he was going to go with his earlier plan from last night and just forget the whole thing ever happened. Trying to think about it so hard was starting to give him a headache.

Takeru turned his gaze back to Ken and could read that Ken didn't really believe him from his expression, but, because it was Ken, he didn't try to force Takeru to tell him the rest. Takeru knew he wouldn't have been so lucky with most of the rest of the Digidestined, had one of them been the one to come upon him.

"Well, I'd hate to bring this up now," Ken started hesitantly. "But I know Miyako is going to ask me, so I'm going to have to or else she'll get mad. Did you find anyone to take on that double date she…er…_asked_ you to go on with us this Saturday?"

Takeru let out a laugh. "It hasn't even been one day since she mentioned the whole thing," he said.

"I know that, but I had to ask," Ken said. "She would wonder why if I didn't." He paused again. "You could just ask a girl in your class. I'm sure one of them would go with you."

"Why is she so concerned with my love life anyway?" Takeru blurted out, somewhat aware of the steadily increasing fever that he was getting making him say things he normally wouldn't. "I'm still in high school. Is there any particular reason Miyako thinks I should have found my soulmate by now?"

"Umm," was Ken's only reply. He could see the concern that was becoming ever more prominent on his friend's face. Finally he said, "I think she's just concerned. You know that she's not very good at thinking before she speaks sometimes, but her heart is in the right place."

"I know," Takeru muttered, feeling terrible, both physically and about what he said about Miyako. He put his elbows onto the desk and held his forehead in his hands. "Why doesn't she take Mimi or something? I know she adores Mimi."

"I don't think Mimi is seeing anyone right now," Ken said and Takeru heard the cautious tone he was using, though he didn't know why. "Who would she take?"

"I don't know," Takeru said with his mind befuddled well beyond anything coherent. "Taichi, I guess. He hasn't got a girlfriend yet, that I know of. Or better yet, she could go with Koushiro. They always seemed to get along well when they were protecting us."

"Us?" Ken asked. Takeru barely registered the question and the confusion from it. He could feel his breath starting to become ragged as the fever took over more. Suddenly a cool hand was on his neck, but it was not enough to quench the heat now trailing along his skin. "Takeru, you're burning up!" Ken exclaimed shock and concern laced into his voice. "Why didn't you say you were sick?"

But Takeru wasn't looking at him; he wasn't really _there_ enough anymore to acknowledge his friend. His gaze once again roamed to the empty desk beside him. "Someone should _be_ there," he muttered before he felt himself fall into oblivion.

* * *

Ken caught Takeru as his friend swayed and slipped into unconsciousness. He lowered his friend to the floor, laying him on his side, knowing that he would never be able to carry his friend to help and didn't feel that dragging Takeru somewhere in his present state was the best course of action. He tried calling Takeru's name a few times, but was unsuccessful in getting a response. He looked around desperately, not quite sure what he should do. He had never seen Takeru this sick before. He pulled out his D-Terminal and sent a quick message to Iori, hoping that the younger boy wasn't that far from school yet. Then he sent another one off to Yamato, not knowing if he was available at the moment, but he also knew that the older brother would want to know what had happened to Takeru.

He glanced down at Takeru, whose breathing was still haggard and was still not conscious. Ken was worried about leaving him alone, so he just went to the door of the classroom and glanced down the hall, hoping to see a teacher that he could call over for help. The hallway was completely empty. He returned to Takeru and knelled next to his friend's side. He heard Takeru begin to mutter something. Ken leaned closer to hear what it was, but all he could hear was something that vaguely sounded like "save light", which made absolutely no sense to Ken.

He was beginning to wonder if he should call an ambulance, since he knew that losing consciousness because of sickness was _not_ a good thing, when the door to the classroom opened and Iori came in. He looked stunned when he saw Takeru on the floor. "What's wrong?" the younger boy asked as he walked over next to Ken and Takeru.

"He just collapsed," Ken said. "He's really sick."

Iori just nodded. "I'll go find help," he said before he left the room again.

Ken watched worriedly over Takeru, feeling a little helpless in the situation and suddenly wishing that Jyou were there. Though the eldest Digidestined hadn't graduated from medical school, he still knew the most about these things than any other Digidestined. A few minutes later, Iori came back with Mr. Fujiama, Takeru's homeroom teacher. He listened to the brief explanation of Ken, before pulling out his phone and calling for an ambulance. He told the boys to stay with Takeru while he left to go see if the school nurse was still in, as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. "Did you tell Yamato?" Iori asked.

"I sent him a message, but he could be in class or something," Ken said.

Mr. Fujiama came back alone, but with a cold compress to place on Takeru's forehead.

The three of them waited in anticipation. It seemed to Ken that the ambulance was taking forever to arrive, but it was probably less than twenty minutes. The EMTs rushed into the room, pushing back the three from the fallen boy. "His name is Takeru Takaishi," Ken said as he pulled back. One of the EMTs gave a nod in understanding, before beginning to talk to Takeru. When Takeru was unresponsive to their questions, they turned to the group.

"What happened?" one of them asked.

"He was out in the cold last night he said," Ken told them. "He wasn't looking well, but he wasn't terrible until a few minutes after I started to talk to him. He was unfocused and when I placed my hand on his neck, I noticed he was burning up. That's when he collapsed and fell unconscious."

"How long ago did this happen?"

"About half an hour," Ken said.

"And he hasn't become conscious since then?"

"No," Ken replied not missing the worried glances that the EMTs gave. "He's mumbled a few words, but he hasn't really woken up. Why? Is he going to be okay?"

"We'll do our best."

As they were about to roll Takeru away to the ambulance to take him to the hospital, Ken requested to go with them, which they agreed to. Mr. Fujiama told the boys he would call Takeru's father. Before Ken followed the EMTs, Iori told him he would go tell the others what had happened and to let them know what they could do to help. Ken followed after his sick friend, apprehensive of what they would find at the hospital.


	4. Reasons

Yamato, with Sora tagging along behind him, rushed into the hospital and descended upon the unsuspecting receptionist sitting on the other side of the desk. She was quite unaware that she was the only one sitting between one thoroughly panicked older brother and his younger brother (who he had thought was dead for a little while just months ago) only to find out today that he had collapsed and was in the hospital. He had a brief sudden urge to punch Taichi, and couldn't think of why for a moment (despite their fights when they were younger, he usually had a pretty good reason these days before he actually decked his best friend) until he remembered Taichi's words from last night. Of course as soon as Taichi thought nothing could go wrong and voiced that opinion out loud, something _would_ go wrong. Jyou was always telling them not to say "it could be worse" because it usually got worse from there. Yamato was beginning to think he had a point.

"Can I help you?" the unfazed receptionist asked. Yamato was glad at least that she wasn't smiling and trying to be cheerful. He wasn't exactly sure what his face looked like, but he knew from experience that he wasn't very good at controlling his emotions when it came to Takeru.

Luckily Sora was there to keep him as calm as possible. She placed a hand on his arm before she spoke to the receptionist. "We're looking for the room of Takeru Takaishi. He was admitted this afternoon."

"All right," she replied and turned to her computer and began typing. She asked for Sora to spell the last name, which she gladly supplied. "He's in room C-121," she told them. "Go up to the third floor and the desk can direct you from there."

Sora thanked her and nudged Yamato in the ribs with her elbow. He breathed out a "thanks", rubbing his side certain that Sora did not have to prod him that hard. They walked to the elevator and took it up to the third floor. Once there, they got more instructions from another receptionist. Yamato suddenly found himself at the door to where his brother lay. Neither of the receptionists had given any indication of what Takeru's status was, but Yamato thought that it couldn't be that bad if they were allowing visitors. He walked into the room.

Takeru was laying on the bed, hooked up to an IV and an oxygen tube. It pained Yamato deeply to see his brother lying so still and pale. Ken was sitting in the chair to his side and looked up when Yamato and Sora walked in. Ken's face broke into his small smile, and Yamato sighed in relief. Ken wouldn't be smiling if Takeru wasn't going to be okay.

"He'll be fine, they say," Ken said without being prompted as he stood to walk over to them. "They managed to bring his temperature down and regulate his breathing." He frowned. "They haven't said it outright to me, but I think they are a little worried that he hasn't regained consciousness yet, despite that they have his fever under control. They want to keep him overnight, in any case, to keep him under observation."

Yamato nodded. "Thank you, Ken, for being here with him."

Ken ducked his head shyly. "That's what friends are for, right?" he said, softly. He edged past them while he said, "If you'll excuse me, now that you're here, I'll just go."

"You don't have to leave, just because we're here," Sora was quick to assure him.

"Oh no, it's fine," Ken replied. "Miyako will probably want to hear everything about it anyway, and I have to get home before my mother worries too much."

Sora nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll let you know of any changes," she said.

Ken nodded one last time before he slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Yamato walked over to Takeru and placed his hand over Takeru's forehead. His shoulders slumped in relief. His brother was going to be all right. Takeru's face creased and his body stirred just slightly. Yamato hoped this meant he was about to wake up; he softly spoke his brother's name. Takeru's eyes opened slowly, but there were confused and unfocused, just staring at the ceiling blankly. "Yamato?" Takeru muttered softly and questioningly.

"I'm right here, Takeru," he said, smiling brightly. He heard the rustle of clothing behind him and he glanced back to see Sora heading for the door. She was probably going to find a doctor. He looked back at Takeru, whose gaze was still distant and hadn't looked at him at all.

"There was…a girl," Takeru said so falteringly and so quietly that Yamato barely heard him.

"That's right," Yamato said, trying to reassure his brother. "Sora came with me to see you."

He grasped Takeru's hand with the one not still resting on Takeru's forehead. Takeru gasped suddenly and he startled, his body jerking slightly. He blinked rapidly for a few seconds, his face creased once again, but this time in confusion. His eyes finally focused onto Yamato; they were much clearer than they had been just a minute ago. "Yamato?" he asked again and Yamato wondered if his brother had been truly awake when his eyes first opened. Takeru's eyes cast about the room. "Where am I? What happened?"

"You're in the hospital," Yamato answered. "Don't you remember?"

Takeru's furrowed into confusion again and he began to rub his eyes with the palms of his hands. "No," he muttered. "I feel terrible though."

Before Yamato could answer, a doctor hustled into the room carrying a clipboard with Sora trailing along anxiously behind him. The doctor swept Yamato aside from Takeru, set down his clipboard on the table next to the bed, and began to examine him. As he was checking Takeru's pulse, he said, "Well, you've had us all quite worried, young man." Takeru frowned at the doctor's words, and opened his mouth to reply, but closed it once again, his brows still furrowed. The doctor looked at Yamato, pausing in his examination and asked, "And who might you be?"

"I'm his older brother, Yamato Ishida," he replied.

The doctor frowned and checked the clipboard. "I have him down as Takeru Takaishi," he said, putting emphasis on the last name.

Yamato's eyes narrowed at the doctor's tone. "Our parents are divorced," he said defensively.

"I see," the doctor replied. His eyes flicked to Sora. "And who is this young lady who had the sense to come find me?"

Yamato bristled at his words since to him it sounded like the doctor was implying that Yamato himself wouldn't have the sense to go get the doctor himself. Sora had gone so there was no need for him to leave Takeru and go find someone as well.

"I'm Sora Takenouchi," Sora said politely as she put a calming hand on Yamato's arm, probably sensing his bad mood rearing its head again. "I'm Yamato's girlfriend. Takeru's like a brother to me to." As she said this, she smiled at Takeru, who smiled back.

"I see," the doctor said again. He continued, "Well, I'm Doctor Kimura. It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled and turned back to Takeru. "You seemed to have caught quite the nasty cold today, Mr. Takaishi," he said. "Why don't you tell us what you remember?"

Takeru's gaze turned away in thought. "I wasn't feeling well this morning," he said. "I probably should have stayed home, but I went to school anyway since we didn't have to be there very long. I talked to Ken after school. I kept feeling worse and worse, but my mind was all fuzzy and I couldn't think straight." He shrugged. "Then I was waking up here."

Doctor Kimura nodded, making notes on his clipboard. "I have a Ken Ichijouji here as the one who came with you to the hospital. Is that your friend?"

Takeru smiled and nodded, looking a little bit more like himself, Yamato thought.

"What were you doing yesterday?" Doctor Kimura asked.

Takeru frowned. "We took some exams at school. I went to get ice cream. Ken and Miyako, that's Ken's girlfriend," Takeru added, probably so the doctor wouldn't ask. "Well, they found me and we talked. Then I went home."

"Anything else?"

Takeru now looked at Yamato, and Yamato narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He knew that look of Takeru's. It was the look that Takeru was about to say something he knew Yamato wouldn't like and would possibly get mad about. "I went for a walk," he said tentatively.

"When?"

Takeru sighed heavily. "In the middle of the night," he confessed.

"I see," the doctor replied.

Yamato was about to explode and ask his brother what on earth would possess him to take a walk in the middle of the night, when he felt Sora's hand on his arm once again. He looked at her and she shook her head briefly, her eyes full of warning.

"Well, it seems that could be the reason your health deteriorated as much as it did," Doctor Kimura said. "You probably were already getting a cold; it is not uncommon this time of year especially with students. The combination of the stress from exams and exposure to the extremely cold temperature was probably the factors that most likely caused your fever to run so high, which in turn caused you to pass out." He frowned. "Normally, I would release someone in your case, since we got your fever under control and you seem to be on your way to mending, but it troubles me that you were unconscious for so long. I'm going to keep you for tonight, just for observation, to make sure nothing else comes up." He nodded to them and went out of the room with a quick farewell.

Yamato turned to Takeru after watching the doctor leave and opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he saw Takeru. Takeru was gazing out the window into the falling snow and he looked so tired and ragged. "I know you want to ask, Yamato," he heard his brother say quietly. "But I can't give you a reason why I was out last night." He buried his eyes in his palms. "Somehow, it just suddenly feels like my life for the past few months is just a blur, like I can't really remember much of anything." He sighed again, his hands dropping back into his lap. "I don't know. I thought it was just burnout from the exams, but…I don't know," he repeated, his shoulders slumping as he started to pick at the sheets. "Yamato, I think…" he trailed off, biting his lower lip in hesitation.

"What is it?" Yamato asked. "You can tell me anything, you know that."

"Yeah," Takeru said, but instead of saying anything, he shook his head. "Never mind. It's nothing," he said, giving his shoulders another shrug. "Probably just the aftereffects of the fever."

Yamato stepped forward and placed his hands on Takeru's shoulders. "I will _always_ be here for you, Takeru," he said. "No matter what." He was deeply worried about his younger brother. The sad, pale individual on the hospital bed was such a far cry from the bright, cheerful young man he usually saw that Yamato was desperate to know what was wrong with his brother. He didn't know what it was yet, but he somehow knew he would dread finding out what it was.

Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

Gatomon and Wizardmon sat together, enjoying the peace of the newly restored Digital World. It had taken a while, but the data had managed to reconstruct itself back to what it was before Daemon had gone on his rampaging destruction. The Digidestined had been around too, helping where they could. Gatomon knew because she had seen them around. She was somewhat grateful to them for getting rid of her cruel master, Myotismon, especially when Wizardmon sacrificed himself to save her, but there really nothing to associate them anymore. The Digidestined had let her go back to the Digital World and…

Gatomon suddenly blinked in confusion. She turned to her friend. "Wizardmon," she said.

"Yes, Gatomon?" Wizardmon asked.

"Why did the Digidestined let me come back to the Digital World?" she asked. It was a question she was sure she knew the answer to, but reason seemed to be eluding her for some reason. Her tail flicked in annoyance; the sun caught and shone off her tail ring. She frowned at it; Myotismon hated her tail ring for some reason he had never told her. He punished her for it, just like he had for her eyes. He never gave an explanation why he hated them; it was always just an outburst of anger and his harsh red whip. Her focus landed back on Wizardmon as he answered.

"The Digidestined seemed to me like a group of compassionate children," Wizardmon said. "When you made it clear that we were no longer working for Myotismon, I imagine that they let you go back with them because they thought you were not an evil Digimon anymore."

Her eyes narrowed at the explanation. For some reason, it didn't seem quite right, but it did make a lot of sense. She had been plagued by grief for Wizardmon, so it was true that her memories of the time could be a little jumbled. But that still didn't mean that it was the truth. Suddenly, something else occurred to her. "Why did we stop working for Myotismon?" she asked out loud.

"I was never working for Myotismon," Wizardmon said. "I only worked for you, Gatomon. As to why you stopped working for him, I cannot say. You can only find the answer to that in your own heart."

"My own heart?" she repeated. She searched her memories, still coming up with no explanation. There had to have been a reason for her to turn on her master. She had been working for him for so very long, doing anything and everything that he asked of her, without hesitation or question. She couldn't understand why she suddenly couldn't remember after all these years. There _must_ have been something to turn her against him. "Will you help me find it?" she asked Wizardmon.

"Of course," Wizardmon said.

* * *

It was a little while later, soon after Takeru slipped into slumber (real sleep, Doctor Kimura assured Yamato) that Taichi arrived. Sora smiled at her old friend, since Yamato hadn't seemed to notice him yet. His eyes were trained on Takeru's sleeping form. He smiled back before walking into the room. "Hey," he said casually. "I came as soon as I could."

Sora hid the smile behind her hand as Yamato jumped slightly when Taichi began to speak. Yamato smiled at Taichi, the first true smile Sora had seen since they arrived at the hospital. "Hey," Yamato said back, his hand rising just off his leg where it rested, in what Sora assumed was to be a wave.

"How is he?" Taichi asked as he came up to the bed to look at the boy Sora knew Taichi saw as his own little brother in some ways.

"He'll be fine," Sora said, replying for Yamato. "It seems like it was a cold that got a little out of control. They want to keep him here for observation, to make sure there are no complications, but he's going to be fine."

Taichi breathed out a sigh of relief. He pulled out his Digivice and looked at it. Sora was wondering what he was checking and was about to ask when Taichi spoke. "Do you guys need something to eat?" he asked. "I can go get something or call a nurse to get something or something," he finished with a vague wave of his hand.

Sora smiled. He must have been checking what time it was and trying to figure out how long Yamato had gone without food. "I think I saw a vending machine down the hall," she said. She stood up and walked over to him. "I'll help you grab something." She smiled at Yamato. "We'll be right back," she said, to which Yamato just gave another small wave of his hand.

She followed Taichi outside and as they walked down the hallway, Taichi asked, "So what's wrong?"

Sora looked sharply at him. She had intended to talk to Taichi about her thoughts, but didn't know Taichi had picked up on something. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Taichi glanced sideways at her. "Come on, Sora," he said. "I'm not that blind. If Takeru is going to be fine, why does Yamato still looked worried out of his mind?"

Sora glanced back towards the room before coming to a stop, thinking that Yamato probably wouldn't be able to hear them if they whispered. Taichi stopped with her, an eyebrow rising, indicating she should say whatever it was she wanted to. "Something else is wrong with Takeru," she whispered.

"Something…" Taichi began to say before glancing around. "Digital?" he finished vaguely with another hand gesture, but Sora understood what he meant.

She shrugged, honestly not knowing. "The thought crossed my mind, but I don't really know," she said. "He doesn't really seem like himself. It could just be the illness, since I don't think he's ever been this sick before, but…" she trailed off shrugging again.

"It could be something else," Taichi finished. "The kid can't catch a break."

"It could be nothing," Sora pointed out. "But maybe we could keep an eye on him, you know…"

"Just in case," Taichi finished for her again. He nodded and smiled at her, placing one hand on her shoulder. "We won't let anything bad happen to him, Sora."

She nodded in agreement and they continued down the hallway toward the vending machine to accomplish their other mission of keeping one worried older brother healthy as well.


	5. Dreams

Taichi sat alone with Takeru in the hospital room that the sleeping boy was residing in. Sora had finally managed to convince Yamato that he had to eat real food rather than just snacks from a vending machine. When Yamato had tried to point out that Taichi hadn't eaten either, Taichi was rather pleased and smug that he could counter with the fact that he had eaten before he came to the hospital. It finally took Taichi's solemn oath to look after the kid (not that he thought it was necessary, since Yamato knew that Taichi was always looking out for Takeru) to get Yamato to leave to dinner with Sora, leaving Taichi alone with Takeru. He smiled fondly at the sleeping kid, whom he adored as if Takeru was his own little brother. If he had a little sister, he wouldn't mind if she dated Takeru.

A flash of dizziness hit Taichi for just a second, something that he might have attributed to lack of food if he didn't know that he had just eaten not that long ago. He shrugged it off as a reaction to the smell of the hospital; that potent smell of cleanliness and the hint of bleach was enough to make anyone light-headed. It could also be one-too-many soccer balls to the head were finally catching up to him after all these years of playing.

During their first adventure, the more time Taichi had spent with Takeru, the more it had filled him with a sense of longing. He frowned at that thought, but then he supposed that he had always sort of wished that he had a younger sibling of his own. He had seen the bond that Yamato and Takeru shared, despite the separation that their parents had forced upon them.

Takeru stirred and opened his eyes. "Yamato?" he asked.

"Nope," Taichi answered, coming to his feet to stand next to the bed. "It's just me, buddy."

A flicker of a smile crossed Takeru's lips as his eyes came into focus on Taichi. "Taichi?" A sudden somberness fell down on Takeru's features. "Are you mad at me?" he asked, suddenly.

Taichi was taken aback and his brows furrowed in confusion. "No," he answered. "Why would I be mad at you?"

Takeru's frown deepened and he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. "I don't know," he said. "It just feels like you should be mad at me for some reason."

Taichi grinned. "Not unless you've done something I don't know about," he teased. He was alarmed when Takeru began to sit up. "Hey, take it easy," he cautioned.

"I'm fine," Takeru said, waving him off. "I feel much better really." His gaze fell away from Taichi to the window, where snow was beginning to fall again.

"Is something wrong, Takeru?" Taichi asked, remembering the discussion that he had with Sora in the hallway, when she confided to him that there was something else the matter with their young friend. Taichi was beginning to see what she was talking about, since this was the first time he had seen Takeru awake since arriving that the hospital and the young man was not acting like he normally did. Some of it could probably be attributed to the illness, but there was no way an illness could bring Takeru down to this level of melancholy.

"Have you ever got the feeling that you've forgotten something?" Takeru asked, keeping his gaze away from Taichi.

"Sure," Taichi said, lightly, trying to give some kind of reassurance to Takeru. "Happens to me all the time. I'm fairly certain Sora was the only reason I ever passed high school. I could only seem to remember when soccer practices were and not when any of my assignments were due."

Takeru looked at him now with a hint of smile, bringing back the boy he knew so well if only for a second. The smile quickly fell away. There was a pause of hesitation before Takeru shook his head. "Never mind," he said with a resigned sigh. "I'm sure it's nothing." He cast a hesitant smile in Taichi's direction. "So, what have you been up to recently?" he asked in an overly casual tone. "I feel like I haven't heard from you in a long time."

Taichi recognized the change of subject for what it was, but let it slide as he talked to Takeru. It was getting ever clearer to him that Yamato's worry was warranted and something was wrong with Takeru, but there was a few things about Takeru that were different from the kid he had known long ago that he didn't know how to go about getting him to talk to them about it. It was a wonder that he told them about being attacked in France at all. Taichi frowned in mid-thought. If there was one thing he knew for certain about Takeru it was that he disliked having anyone worry about him. There was another reason Takeru told them, Taichi was sure of it, but he couldn't think of what it was.

Before he could think on it anymore, Yamato returned, this time without Sora.

"Where's Sora," Taichi asked, voicing the obvious question.

"She went home after dinner since we were reassured that Takeru was going to be fine," Yamato paused for a breath for before adding, "Though only with my promise that I would get some sleep at some point tonight."

Taichi flashed his best friend a smile. "Sounds like Sora," he said.

Yamato nodded, but looked passed him and smiled when he saw Takeru, clearly happy to find his brother awake again. He walked up to the bed and ruffled an affectionate hand through Takeru's head. "How are you feeling, buddy?"

Takeru gave a smile to his brother, looking much more normal to Taichi as he did. Takeru smiled so often that it was almost painfully obvious when he wasn't doing so. Taichi watched the scene with the familiar sense of longing coming back to him. "I wish I had a brother," he said, almost not quite realizing he said it out loud until the words were out of his mouth. Both brothers fixed him with a blue gaze. "Uh…you guys just have such a great bond that I was just kind of wishing I had someone like that," he explained.

A familiar teasing glint flashed into Takeru's eyes before he asked, "What about a sister?"

Taichi frowned in thought. "I guess that wouldn't have been so bad either," he said, finding the idea of having a sister not as bad as he first thought. When he was really little, he remembered really wanting a brother because Sora's mood swings (sweet one minute and then stark raving mad at him in the next) in their early years of friendship had kept him so off balanced that he was sure that having a brother would have been better than having a sister, especially if she had turned out to have Sora-isk mood swings. But now he was thinking that a sister wouldn't have been bad at all and somehow it felt more right. "As long as she didn't insist on taking me shopping with her," he added with a grin.

"She would have had Mimi and Miyako for that," Yamato said with an eye roll.

"That's true," Taichi said as those words brought him into a new line of thought. He wondered if his sister would have been chosen as a Digidestined; if perhaps there might have been an Eighth Child to the original group. He looked at Takeru. It certainly might have been easier on the kid if there had been someone his own age in the group.

Takeru smiled up at him. "Well, you'll always have us, Taichi," he said with a warming smile.

Taichi grinned and threw an arm around Takeru's shoulders and ruffled his hair like Yamato had done just minutes before. "You betcha," he said. "There's no way you're going to get rid of me that easily." The three boys laughed, and Taichi felt a little bit of the haze that had fallen since Takeru's arrival at the hospital lift just a bit.

* * *

Yuuko stood in the only empty room in the apartment wondering exactly why she had left the room in its current state for so long. Taichi had moved out over two years ago, taking most of his stuff with him and they had gotten rid of the rest. Yuuko frowned a bit. At least, they must have gotten rid of the rest because the room was empty, though she couldn't really remember doing so. She brushed the thought away; she must have done it and that was that. It still left her with the problem of why she hadn't put this room to good use since then. She must have had a plan at one point, since they hadn't just starting piling storage in the room or anything. She just couldn't think of what it was.

She paced around the room, putting together a floor plan in her head. The computer would go nicely in one corner, and then she could have more room near the kitchen to store food and appliances. She could set up a desk along the other wall for the hobby that she was going to pick up. She hadn't decided what it was yet, but with her child away from home, it was certainly a good time to pick up one.

The front door opened and Yuuko went out to see Susumu arriving home. "I'm home," he called as he set down his briefcase to switch from his work shoes to his home slippers.

"Welcome back," Yuuko replied with a smile.

"What were you doing in Taichi's room?" he asked.

"Oh, just deciding that we should finally do something with it," Yuuko said with a slight wave of her hand. "It's been over two years since Taichi left and since we don't have anyone else to occupy it, the room might as well be used somehow."

Susumu smiled. "I think that's a great idea," he said. "What did you have planned?"

Yuuko told him of her ideas. As they sat down to dinner, Yuuko mind wandered to her words. She and Susumu had discussed the possibility of having another child, and Yuuko couldn't remember why they hadn't. She loved her son with all her heart, but she had always sort of wanted a little girl of her own. She had wanted someone to dress up in cute pink dresses and do up her hair in pretty pink ribbons. Not that she wouldn't have loved another little boy but she had wanted another girl. She frowned in confusion since she really could not recall why they hadn't had another child. A wave of dizziness flowed through her for just a moment.

"Are you all right, Yuuko?" Susumu asked.

"I'm fine," she assured her husband, letting her thoughts focus back on the present and what she was going to do with Taichi's old empty room.

* * *

It was after Takeru had fallen asleep again as the day turned into night that Taichi left the hospital to head home. Yamato was torn between staying with his brother and going home himself. He knew that Takeru was going to be okay, but it was still hard to leave him alone in the hospital. As he sat puzzling over what he should do, he heard the door open and turned to see who was coming in. His eyebrows lifted in slight shock. "Dad?"

His father blinked tiredly at him. "Yamato? What are you still doing here?" he asked.

Yamato smiled sheepishly at his father and waved a hand at Takeru. "I guess I just couldn't leave him," he said with slight resignation at himself. He quirked his brow quizzically at Hiroaki. "Did you just hear about it?" He probably should have expected his father to be late, but this was hours after the fact and it was completely different situation from leaving Takeru at the airport.

Hiroaki shook his head as he walked over to stand by to the bed next to Yamato. "I was here right after it happened, but I left to go back to work after the doctor said he was recovering when his friend offered to stay with him until you got here. His teacher called me and I came right away. I feel somewhat responsible for the severity of his condition, since I probably could have prevented it. He didn't look well this morning, but when he told me he didn't feel that bad, I didn't force him to stay home."

Yamato nodded in understanding. Takeru, despite the fact that he would go out of his way, even to the point of putting himself in danger (Yamato remembered the events of last summer with a shudder) to help a friend he knew in need or in trouble, disliked having people worry about him or thinking he wasn't capable of taking care of himself. Yamato knew that mostly came from being the youngest of the group of the first Digidestined and his wanting to be helpful and not slowing down the group or being a liability in their fights against the evil Digimon. Then they had come to their second adventure and Takeru had to step up as the most experienced one that the newer Digidestined had to rely on, and Yamato knew Takeru had felt that weight of responsibility to make sure that nothing happened to the others because he was supposed to know what to do because he had the most experience. Now, with the most recent events, the fate of the worlds had been literally thrust onto Takeru's shoulders, and Yamato was beginning to wonder if it was starting to be too much for the young bearer of Hope. Takeru was strong, but everyone needed the help of others sometimes.

Yamato watched as Hiroaki placed a hand on Takeru's forehead, like Yamato had when he first arrived, and smile fondly down at the blond boy, which caused Yamato to smile at his father. Despite his rough appearance and brusque attitude that often put others off him, Yamato was well aware that Hiroaki cared deeply about his family, particularly the little soft spot (the same one Yamato had claim to) he had for Takeru, the son he had spent so much of the young boy's life separated from. With Takeru's usual cheerful and upbeat attitude, it was hard not to let the boy deep into your heart, as Yamato very well knew.

He let his gaze trail back to his sleeping brother. He still had the feeling that something was wrong, but he also knew that the Digidestined hadn't failed yet in anything they had put their minds to, and it was unlikely that they were going to this time. As a team, all of them together could overcome any obstacle.

* * *

The hospital released Takeru the next morning since no complications cropped up during the night. Since his father was at work, Yamato was the one to drive him home, since he didn't have any classes either due to the fact the university was also on its winter break. Takeru was still on the road to recovery, so he still felt a little physically weak and hazy, but his fever was at least gone and he hadn't felt dizzy and/or ready to pass out since he had regained consciousness yesterday.

When Yamato dropped him off at the apartment, Takeru could tell that he wanted to stay, but Takeru assured him that he would be fine and that he was just going to relax all day and recuperate (after a solemn promise that under no circumstances was he going to go outside or do anything that would jeopardize his health).

Takeru spent the day lounging on the couch, trading between watching the television and reading a book and complete boredom. Suddenly he wished that he had asked Yamato to stay, but he hadn't really wanted to deal with a hovering Yamato all day, since that probably would have been worse than being bored.

His thoughts traced back to the strange dreams he had while sleeping in the hospital. He couldn't really explain it or really remember them at all. All he knew was there was a girl (he had no idea what she looked like), she was in trouble, and he was supposed to help her. There was something he had to remember as well, but he had no idea of what it was. He usually didn't think anything of his dreams, but for some reason, this one (which he had half-delirious with fever) seemed to stick with him. The dream is what led him to ask that question of Taichi.

As night began to fall, Takeru thrust his thoughts of the strange dream into the back of his mind and went into his room to go to bed. He rummaged in his drawer for a pair of pajamas, but his hand stopped when he brushed up against something that felt like a box. His fingers clasped around the object, and he pulled it warily out of the drawer. It was a small white jewelry box. All Takeru could think to do was stare at it in puzzlement, since he didn't really own anything that could even remotely be called jewelry (the closest things he had to what would be an accessory were his hats and his D-3, but neither of those were anything like jewelry), let alone something that came in a little white box. Memories of the previous Sunday came flooding back to him as he remembered going to the mall with Mimi to pick this out, but now he was wondering why he ever thought he would need something like this.

He tentatively opened the box and stared at the delicate ring set into the box. The ring was clearly made for a female, but he didn't know who exactly he would have bought it for. The stone, at first glance, looked like it could be white, but colors swirled over its smooth surface. It was an opal, the stone of hope, he remembered as Mimi's words from a few days ago. As he gazed into the stone's surface, flashes of his dreams came back to him, willing him to remember whatever it was he had forgotten.

_Forever…_

A wave of dizziness ran through him as light flashed across his gaze. The ring box slipped from his fingers, snapping shut and rolling underneath his desk as it hit the ground.

Takeru blinked in confusion for just a moment before going back to his task of getting his sweatpants from his drawer. He knew that he wasn't completely well yet and was looking forward to the restful peace that sleep would grant him.


	6. Recovery

An insistent pounding led Takeru to the door the next afternoon. He opened the door, somewhat surprised to find Ken and Miyako standing on the other side. Miyako held a grocery bag on each arm, which made Takeru wonder if they had just come from the convenience store that her family owned. He must have paused for just only a second, but that was apparently too long for Miyako as she started tapping her foot impatiently, raised an eyebrow, glared at him, and said with irritation, "Are you going to let us in or what?" Takeru glanced past her for another second at Ken, who was just smiling faintly at him with a slight apologetic look in his eyes. Takeru stepped back, swinging his arm out wide beside him, indicating for the two of them to enter. "Thank you," Miyako said with satisfaction, wasting no time in barreling past him straight into the kitchen. Ken stepped in more quietly, and walked beside Takeru after he shut the door to follow Miyako.

"How are you feeling?" Ken asked with concern etched into his face.

Takeru smiled at his friend. "I'm fine," he assured him. "I'm feeling much better really." He paused. "Though I do want to thank you for all that you did to help me."

Ken returned his smile. "You would have done the same for me," he said.

They entered the kitchen, where Miyako was pulling things out of the bags and rummaging through the kitchen cupboards for various things. Takeru glanced around the room that slowly becoming chaos before he asked, "What are you doing, Miyako?" His tone was mild with a hint of curiosity since he was amused by what she was doing more than anything else.

She stopped briefly to look at him and say, "I'm making you soup." She gave him this incredulous look, like he should have known exactly what she was doing that was just so typical Miyako that Takeru had to hold back an amused chuckle, but couldn't quite stop the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Oh," he said, since it was really the only thing he could think to reply. He realized he was lucky to have friends that were so willing to go out of their way to take care of him. He let a warm smile fall across his face as he said sincerely, "Thank you."

Miyako beamed at him, her whole face lighting up in pure delight, before returning to her work even more enthusiastically than before. A little while later found the three of them at the kitchen table, eating the rather yummy soup Miyako had made. As they finished, Miyako bit her lip and Takeru knew there was something she wanted to say. He waited patiently, content to wait for her to speak, since it wasn't very often that Miyako didn't just blurt out whatever was on her mind the very moment she was thinking it.

"So, Takeru," she began, her fingers fiddling idly with a few strands of her hair. "About tomorrow…" she added slowly, but trailed off and didn't finish, as her eyes glanced at him a little guiltily.

Takeru's heart sank just a little. Tomorrow was Saturday; the day Miyako had asked him to go on a double date with her and Ken. "I don't have anyone to take, Miyako," he said gently. "Besides, I don't know that it would be a really good idea for me to go out after just getting over…whatever that illness was."

Miyako's shoulders slumped and disappointment fell across her features. "I guess I understand that," she said. She sighed and huffed. "I was just really looking forward to going with you."

"Why?" The question came out almost before Takeru realized it. He and Miyako were friends, it was true, and maybe Miyako (having found her own happiness with Ken) was interested in helping others find happiness of their own and Takeru was just her first project (so to speak), but he suddenly wondered why Miyako would have been _looking forward_ to going on a double date with him.

Miyako shrugged. "It's just something I've wanted to do since this summer," she said. "Since you came back, you know."

"Perhaps we could wait until he finds someone for himself," Ken said soothingly.

Miyako folded her arms on the table and let her head fall into them. She sighed dramatically. "I know, but what am I going to do tomorrow?" she asked. "I had such a great plan for everything!"

Takeru smiled at Miyako's enthusiasm. "Then you should go anyway," he said. "Next weekend we've got the Digidestined Party, so you should be with Ken this weekend." Miyako still looked a little sullen, so he added his idea he vaguely remembered offering to Ken before passing out. "Or you could take Mimi," he said. "You and Mimi always seem to get along great together."

Miyako's head lifted off the table and a hopeful look started to shine in her eyes for a moment before dejection flashed in them again. "But who would she go with?"

"Koushiro," Takeru said with absolute certainty, knowing that it was the right choice, but not really sure why he knew. Miyako shot him a doubtful look. "Trust me," Takeru said. "The two of them got along rather well this summer while they were protecting me." Ken frowned for a moment, catching Takeru's attention as he did, and his eyes took on a distant, thoughtful look for a second. He gave a slight shake of his head before turning his attention back to them, but he didn't share what he had been thinking. If it had been important, Takeru knew Ken would have shared, so he turned his focus back to Miyako. "They can at least go as friends, if not anything else," Takeru continued, smiling slightly as he thought back to those afternoons in the Digital World of Mimi nagging Koushiro to get off his computer. They were so focused on each other most of the time that it was like being alone with…

He frowned suddenly as a flash of dizziness hit him as a vision of a soft smile and a quiet laugh flickered through his brain. He sighed, a little annoyed with this cold that kept rearing up.

"Perfecto!" He focused back on Miyako as she jumped up from her seat. "Thanks so much, Takeru! Come on, Ken. I've got to go talk to Mimi right away!" She started rushing toward the door, throwing her coat around her shoulders.

Ken was slower to get up and he quietly asked, "Do you need anything, Takeru?"

Takeru smiled at him and shook his head. "I'm fine," he said, really truly meaning it. "Thank you, Ken."

Ken nodded and looked like he might say something else but as Miyako's voice came from the door. "Come on, Ken!" she cried impatiently.

Ken gave a resigned sigh before saying goodbye to Takeru and following his girlfriend out of the door. Takeru smiled after they were gone, thinking that life with Miyako certainly was interesting.

* * *

Sora shook her head sadly at the two boys flopped on the couches. Taichi and Daisuke were sprawled on the couches in what Sora could only assume were comfortable positions since she would never sit like they happened to be. Each of them had a bowl of popcorn within arms' reach as their eyes were glued to the screen in front of them where a soccer game was being played on the television. Sora placed her hands on her hips and asked, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

Both boys let out an extremely satisfying yelp and jumped. Daisuke spilled his popcorn everywhere, despite the fact that it hadn't actually been sitting on his lap. "You are so cleaning that up," Sora said to him

"Sora, what are you doing here?" Taichi asked, as Daisuke began to pick up the popcorn, muttering to himself as he did so. "You know, Yamato is—"

"I know, I know," Sora cut him off. "At his whole band reunion thing," she said, emphasizing the last part by making imaginary quotation marks with her fingers. Yamato and his old band that he had played with in junior high and high school decided to meet up today for a little reunion. Not that Sora was bitter about it or anything. She could certainly understand him wanting to spend time with them. She wasn't the type of girlfriend that needed to spend every second of every day with him. She was fully supportive of Yamato having guy friends. She just wished he could pick better days to do it on. It was the holidays after all and therefore some of the most romantic days of the year. She sighed and shook her head slightly. She had lived with Mimi for far too long. "I just came to pick up a book I forgot the other day," Sora said in answer to Taichi's question. "It seemed a good excuse as any to escape Miyako and Mimi's preparations for tomorrow."

"The reunion is not until next week," Taichi said, though there was an unsure cord is his voice that spoke of uncertainty. Sora resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"True," Sora said foregoing the chance to tease her friend as she spotted her book on the coffee table and went to grab it. "They're going on a double date tomorrow," she explained briefly instead.

Taichi's brows furrowed and surprised Sora by actually holding onto the conversation. Daisuke had long since returned his attention to the soccer game, and she had assumed that Taichi would do the same. "But who's Mimi going with?" he asked. Sora was well aware that Taichi was more observant than he made himself out to be, but he usually kept his head out of any of his friends' romantic lives.

"Koushiro," Sora said with a shrug as she flipped through a couple pages of the book, trying to find where she had left off since she hadn't put in her bookmark and had been sufficiently distracted when she had set the book down in the first place.

"What?" Taichi and Daisuke (who spilled his popcorn again) exclaimed at the same time.

Sora snapped the book shut and shot a glare at them. "Why is that so hard to believe?" she demanded, her hands moving to rest on her hips again.

"It's just Koushiro's so…" Daisuke said as he bent to pick up the popcorn again. "Koushiro, you know," he finished with a shrug.

"And it's _Mimi_," Taichi added with a vague hand gesture. "As in…_Mimi_. I don't know. I guess I never really thought they had that much common," he finished with his own shrug.

This time, Sora did roll her eyes at them. "People don't necessarily have to have everything in common to be together," she said exasperatedly.

"I know that," Taichi said indignantly. Suddenly, he rubbed his chin in thought. Slowly, a wide grin began to grow on his face. A grin that filled Sora with dread. "Hey, Daisuke, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing, why?" He looked far too interested in what Taichi was about to say in Sora's opinion. She had been about to leave but decided to stay and see what Taichi was up to.

"I was thinking that Takeru could use some cheering up," Taichi said casually, but Sora got what he was getting at and decided to step in.

"Don't you dare drag Takeru off on one of your little schemes, Taichi," Sora said. "I will tell Yamato, and he'll make sure you can't play soccer for weeks."

Taichi's grin only grew bigger. "No you won't," he said with such certainty that it made Sora pause. "Or I'll tell him about that incident in third grade."

Sora felt her face flash red. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Come on, Sora," Taichi said with a glint in his eyes that told her he _would_ in fact tell Yamato. "You said yourself that Takeru wasn't acting like himself. I'm just trying to help."

Sora narrowed her eyes at him, trying to gauge if he was actually sincere or not. "Fine," she said relenting, knowing that despite his rather unorthodox methods, Taichi probably would have the best intentions for Takeru. "I won't tell Yamato. But if he gets sick again, I'm not protecting you from Yamato's wrath."

"Fair enough," Taichi said. He turned away from her then and began explaining his plan to Daisuke, who began to sport an identical grin that had graced Taichi's face just moments ago. Sora rolled her eyes at them and left the apartment, determined that the less she knew the better off she would be.

* * *

"This is a terrible idea."

"So you've said…fourteen times already." Taichi said. He flashed a grin to the mildly frowning Takeru. "But you still came along," he pointed out.

"Well, you didn't give me much a choice, did you?" Takeru said and Taichi could hear the amusement and faint exasperation (but there was no anger; there was hardly ever anger when it came to Takeru) in his voice, but couldn't really argue the point. He and Daisuke had basically shown up at his door, thrown his coat around his shoulders, his hat on his head, and his shoes on his feet and then dragged him outside with them, despite his protests or threats to tell Yamato what they were doing (in other words, they pretty much kidnapped him). When they told him what they had planned, Takeru told them it was a terrible idea, but still followed them anyway rather than choosing to go back to the apartment. He told them that it was more to keep them out of trouble than to actually go along with them, which may very well have been true, but Taichi considered his plan a success in either case. Something may very well be wrong with Takeru, as he and Sora had discussed, but Taichi was determined to do all he could to restore his friend to his bright cheerful self.

Daisuke wrapped an arm around Takeru's shoulders. "Ah, don't be like that, Takeru," he said. "We just thought some fresh air might help you feel better."

"And spying on our friends…" Takeru said trailing off expectantly, raising an eyebrow slightly with amusement sparkling in his eyes with just minor disapproval behind it.

"A complete coincidental bonus," Taichi said, glancing across the street from behind the tree the three were hiding behind, so that he got a glance of the four friends they were following, before turning back to the younger two boys and sharing a conspiratorial grin with Daisuke.

"This is a terrible idea," Takeru said again, but it sounded more resigned than anything else this time.

"Fifteen," Taichi said holding up a finger with another grin.

Daisuke glanced around the other side of the tree. "Come on, they're getting away," he said impatience lining his voice as he rocked slightly on his feet.

Taichi grabbed Takeru's arm and pulled him along behind him and Daisuke as they followed their prey. Daisuke was trying to act inconspicuous, so of course was more conspicuous because of it. Taichi chuckled at their goggled friend and Takeru began to laugh.

As Takeru laughed, his whole face lit up with cheerfulness. Taichi smiled at him, since it seemed his plan must have been working since Takeru was looking better by the minute. Then he frowned slightly as Takeru looked his other side and began to say, "Hey, what—" but then his whole body froze. Taichi stopped alongside him and thought for a minute that maybe Takeru thought that Daisuke (who was in fact still walking a few paces in front of them) had been standing there, since no one was there, and was just startled that he wasn't there, but after a few seconds still had him frozen in place, Taichi walked around to where he was facing in front of him.

He was shocked to find that Takeru was staring at the spot beside him, but not at his eye level, almost as if he was staring at someone shorter than himself, but no one was there. But what alarmed Taichi was the pure panic that was clearly visible in his eyes. "Takeru?" Taichi asked, reaching out and grasping the blond boy's shoulder.

Takeru looked up at him and Taichi was sure that he hadn't seen that much terror in Takeru's gaze since Angemon went up against Devimon. "Taichi—" was all Takeru said before his eyes rolled and he began to sway.

Taichi grasped Takeru's other shoulder to keep him upright, as he said worriedly, "Takeru, are you all right?"

Takeru blinked a few times, but his eyes were clear and bright when he looked at Taichi again. "I guess I'm still not feeling all the way better," he said softly, confusion flickering in his tone.

Daisuke had finally rejoined them. "What's the holdup?" he asked, glancing between the two of them.

Takeru's smile was so genuine that Taichi almost thought he had imagined what had just happened. "Nothing," he said. "Did we lose them?"

"I'm taking you home," Taichi said firmly before Daisuke could answer. It was one thing to try and cheer Takeru up. It was something else entirely to threaten his health, especially if Yamato found out. Taichi thought he should have known better than to take someone out after they'd been sick, even if they didn't look so bad.

Both Takeru and Daisuke looked as if they were going to protest (no doubt for different reasons; Takeru because he hated being babied and Daisuke because he just didn't want to leave), but Taichi fixed them both with a glare that would brook no arguments. As they walked home, Taichi sent wary glances at Takeru, who appeared to not even remember what had happened just minutes before. Sora was right. Something else was wrong with Takeru. He determined to talk to Sora about it the first chance he got.


	7. Forgotten

Hikari was lying in her bed, staring thoughtlessly at the ceiling, dreading the moment when they would come again. She rolled onto her side, wincing slightly as the bruises on her arms, shoulders, and sides from where they had held her tightly pained her as she moved. She pulled her knees up to her chest as she curled up, not really sure whether or not she wanted to try to go to sleep, even though she knew it would be the only chance she got before they would come again. Sleep, though, only brought the dreams, and she didn't want them, whether good or bad. The nightmares only forced her to experience again what she lived through while she was awake. The good dreams, which brought her back home with her family and her friends, back to where she was loved and remembered, really only brought sadness in her heart. Sadness over what she didn't have any more. Over what she might never truly have again.

She was losing the battle. She had no doubt about that. Despite the fact that she fought them at every chance she got, her strength was waning. Sometimes she wondered if she should just give up. It hardly mattered to her anymore one way or the other. In the end, she was going to fall; giving up would only bring an end to the pain sooner. She wasn't even sure how long she'd been here, but it had to have been days at the very least. However long it was it was long enough to know what they told her had to be true. No one was coming to save her. Her friends weren't coming. Taichi wasn't coming. Gatomon wasn't coming. Takeru wasn't coming.

She shut her eyes to try and stop the tears brought on by the feelings suddenly welling up inside her, but as she did the memory of when she first arrived came unwanted into the forefront of her mind.

* * *

_When she first woke up, she glanced around in confusion because she was in her room with no memory of how she got there. The last thing she did remember was talking to Takeru, so she supposed that perhaps he had taken her back and she had just been too tired to remember it clearly. She smiled at the thought of the blond boy. He really was just the sweetest boyfriend any girl could ever ask for to be willing to come comfort her not only in the freezing cold, but so late at night. It wasn't his offer to come over that had surprised her (she had been somewhat expecting it the moment he spoke her name over the phone); it had been her acceptance of his offer that did. She hated being a burden to anyone, but, in hindsight, it never seemed so bad when it was Takeru. Perhaps because he never made it seem like it was a burden._

_But the nightmare she had before he came felt so real. Her hands had grasped for her phone and were dialing his number before she was even aware that she was awake. But he had answered. And he had come for her._

_A wave of coldness rushed through her as her body shivered. That was the moment she felt something was wrong. Even in the middle of winter, the apartment was never so cold. Her parents were always worried that she would get sick again (despite the fact that she hadn't been seriously sick for years) that they never let the apartment get cold. She had sat up quickly and looked around her again, this time studying the room more closely then she had during that first glance. It was her room, but at the same time, it most certainly was not. Her things were here, arranged mostly like they were in her room, but some were out of place. The walls were a dull gray, something she would never paint in her room, and there was no glass doors leading out to the balcony. The truth hit her with such cold certainty that it left not a doubt in her mind._

_She was not in her apartment._

_She closed her eyes and cast her mind back to the last things she remembered happening to her. Takeru had come. He had comforted her and made everything all right again, like she knew he would. They were about to go back to the apartment because Takeru didn't want her to get sick. She gasped and opened her eyes as the final memory fell into place. Then she had felt the pull. Ice flooded her veins in dread. She knew exactly where she was._

_The Dark World had taken her again._

_She tried not to panic. Takeru had been there with her. He had seen her go. He would have guessed what would have happened. He would get the others and come to rescue her, like he always did and she knew he always would. She had to be ready to help him open the portal when he reached out to her, since she knew opening a portal back to the world of light required both of them, whether they were on the same side or different sides of it._

_She reached into her pocket and sighed in relief when she felt her D-3. She was glad she had grabbed it before leaving to meet Takeru. Not that it had much use outside a watch without Gatomon with her. Which was probably why whoever had taken her had left it with her._

_This train of thought led her to wonder who had taken her. With Dragomon and Daemon gone, there wasn't anyone else in the Dark World that she knew of, let alone someone who would want to kidnap her. She cast her mind about, trying to think of something, _anything _that would bring her here. Her thoughts suddenly fell on the nightmare during the night that had her calling Takeru so desperately in the first place. With a shudder, she remembered what they had left behind when she and Takeru had fled back to the Digital World._

"_Hikari…" She gasped and looked up at the door that was not her own. The eerie wispy voices that spoke her name in unison were ones she knew far too well. She looked about panicking despite her resolve not to, desperate for an escape to _anywhere_ else as the door clicked open. Dragomon's dark creatures, the same ones that haunted her nightmares, slithered into the room._

_She backed up away from them as far as she could and tried to call upon her light, her power that she thought might be able to destroy the creatures, but it had been so long since she had used it and her fear of these creatures was gripping her mind so tightly that she couldn't call it up. In this world, surrounded by darkness and away from her friends, she could feel her strength ebbing away bit by bit. She wasn't made to live here._

_They came up to her and gripped her tightly in their ice fire grasp. She clenched her teeth against the gasp of pain that threatened to slip through her lips. "Queen…Hikari…" they intoned._

"_I'm not your queen," she protested, trying to rip herself out of their grasp, but they just held on even tighter the more she fought. "Your Master is gone. Why have brought me here?"_

"_Master is gone," they said. "Hikari will be queen…"_

"_No! I won't," she screamed at them defiantly. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to go home. She was confident that being some kind of dark queen to these creatures was the last thing she wanted._

"_Without the shield, we can finish what Master started," they continued, ignoring her protests._

_That gave her pause. She remembered the cold tentacle wrapped around her neck and the darkness pressing in on her, before golden light had blasted it away. She knew then who, rather than what, they were talking about. Takeru. The shield. _Her _shield. "He will come for me. They will all come for me," she told them wanting to warn them off, knowing that Takeru and Taichi would probably do _whatever _it would take to get her back, but there was a catch in her voice, just the slightest hint of doubt. This place always affected her like that. It made her distrust herself and drew her into its obscuring despair._

"_No, Queen Hikari," they said, and they said it with such assurance that she stopped struggling for a moment. "We used the darkness against them. We caused everyone to forget who you are. The Chosen will not come for you."_

_She was stricken. Her eyes caught the picture sitting on her dresser. It was the picture that usually sat on Takeru's desk, the one of her and him those many years ago in New York, but just last week she had taken it to put a newer picture of her and Takeru in it for him. But exams had come and she'd been so busy studying that she hadn't gotten around to it yet. She wrapped herself in her feelings for him. They loved each other. Surely that was a bond no darkness could destroy. "No," she denied desperately, tears forming in her eyes. "They wouldn't forget me. They couldn't."_

"_They have," the creatures said. "We have brought your things. You will want to be here once the darkness fills you. Queen Hikari…"_

"_No," she said brokenly, shaking her head as the tears began to fall._

* * *

Hikari opened her eyes as the end of the memory came. They had gripped her and delved their darkness into her, turning her to it as Dragomon had started in the summer. She fought them as much as she could, managing to call upon her light a few times, but she had destroyed so few before they overcame her again and again. There was just too many of them and her powers weren't as strong here in the Dark World, especially without Takeru. They were truly stronger together than when they were apart. Perhaps that is why he had not fought off the darkness yet to come get her.

The creatures would come again. Day and night meant nothing in this world; there was only everlasting grayness, devoid of light. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered really. The dark creatures would come and push the darkness into her. She could feel it in her even now. Her light was fading; it could not exist here for so long without her shield, her hope. As her light faded, however, she knew that would only make Takeru weaker as well. Their powers were two halves of the same whole. Whatever happened to one would certainly affect the other. She could only yearn that the darkness now in her would not affect him. She couldn't live with herself knowing if she had sunk him into darkness with her. And she knew she was sinking. And there was nothing she could do to stop it. "I should give up," she whispered, just wanting everything to end.

"You can't give up, Hikari."

She curled up tighter against his voice. "Great," she muttered to herself. "I'm hallucinating again." It wasn't the first time she heard him talking to her, and it wasn't always him that was talking; his voice was just the one she heard most often. She knew she was hearing them because she was losing herself, her very memories to the darkness and her mind was defending itself by bringing the voices of her friends to her mind. She could feel the memories slipping away. She wondered if once the darkness took over if she would know anything else; if she would even want to leave anymore. Without the things that made her who she was, she wondered if she would even belong anywhere else.

"Hikari." If she concentrated, she could even feel the ghost of his hand against her cheek. She missed him so much. And he was slipping away, just like the rest of them. Soon, she would no more remember him than he did her now. She didn't want to think of a life without her friends, here in this dismal world surrounded by only the creatures. They would treat her like their queen, but that wasn't something Hikari wanted or needed.

"I'm so tired, Takeru," she said to her phantom, not even caring anymore that she was really talking to an empty room. "I can't fight them anymore. I need you, but you don't even know who I am anymore." She wondered if he was fighting the darkness that was causing him to forget her; if perhaps his shield could push it away. But if he never realized something was wrong to try and use his power, which he had to go to the Digital World in the first place to use, then he would never know that she was in trouble at all before it would be too late for her to go back.

Her phantom spoke again, but that was probably only because of what she knew Takeru would say to her. "You have to fight them. You're strong. Besides I thought you could take care of yourself," he said and she could almost see the teasing smile that would splash across his face.

"There are times when even I need help," she said to him.

"You have to hold on," he told her. She could almost feel the whisper of his lips on her forehead, but it brought no comfort to her as it might have done, because, despite how much she wished it to be so, he was not really there. It was only her mind that was fabricating what she wanted.

She rolled off the bed, wincing again as the bruises pained her. She stepped up to the dresser where the picture sat and picked it up, a soft sad smile cresting upon her lips as tears gathered in her eyes. She might never see him again; if she did, they would be on different sides of a battle. She set the picture down and slipped over to her shelves where a photo album was. She sat down on the floor where she was as she began to flip through the album. Some of the people still had names in her mind. Some were nothing more to her than vague recognitions.

After a while of searching for something to help her hold onto her memories, she slammed the book closed in frustration. She wanted to remember so badly. It was a terrible fate, to lose her friends one by one. She wondered if it was easier for them to lose her all at once, not slowly and painfully like she was. She had the clearest grasp on Taichi and Takeru still, but the rest of the Digidestined were almost gone. Soon she knew she wouldn't even have them anymore. Her most apparent memory was of Gatomon. It was almost as if the darkness wasn't trying to get her to forget her, which didn't make sense. It was taking everything else from her, so she didn't know why it would leave her Digimon partner out of that.

She didn't know if the creatures' memory loss had included the Digimon, but she didn't know if it would really matter with the time she had left. Even if the Digimon remembered, none of the Digidestined would probably get to the Digital World to learn that something was wrong in time to save her. She was well aware that the next time the creatures came, which could be at any moment since they never left her alone for long, it could be the last time they would have to come. She was tethering on the edge and so close to falling. She might be able to fight them off one or two more times, but that was truly the last she thought her strength would last out. After that, she would be queen of the dark world, knowing nothing but the creatures that she would rule.

The door clicked and she cringed at the sound, knowing they were coming. Sure enough, the door opened and the dark creatures slithered in. She fingered the D-3 that she still kept in her pocket, drawing the same small comfort that it brought to her. It fed a small hope that, somehow, she was still connected to the Digidestined and the Digimon.

They gripped her tightly, probably adding more bruises to the ones that already existed. She shut her eyes and gritted her teeth, determined not to cry out. The words of her phantom Takeru floated across her mind. _You can't give up. You're strong._ It was her last chance; if she did nothing, then she would belong to this world and these creatures. He was right. She had to try. Even if she failed, at least she knew she wouldn't go down without a fight. She had to take the chance and try to open the portal, even if he wasn't there to help her. Even if she no longer had enough light to reach him.

She opened herself to her power, but darkness is what met her. She panicked and tried to push it away, but it was too strong and too deep. It gorged through her mind, erasing everything it touched. Glimpses of faces she no longer knew crashed across her mind before disappearing completely. She tried to hold onto them, but the darkness encompassed them, pressing on her until she no longer knew anything but the cold blackness. Even her own name was out of her grasp in the dark abyss that was now all she was.

Escape flashed into her mind. She no longer knew from what, but in her panic, she reached out, desperate to find something to cling onto, knowing she only wanted to be somewhere that was not where she was now.

A golden light sparkled and met her and she allowed it to wrap her in its warmth. A tiny pink light, deep inside the heart of the darkness that was now her world, answered the golden warmth. She closed her eyes and let it pull her away as she fell into a void where she heard a soft voice say, "_I'll always be here_."


	8. Found

Takeru was tired of being cooped up indoors. Yesterday had been entertaining with Taichi and Daisuke's crazy idea of spying on their friends' double date. He suspected that the real reason they had taken him along was so they could use him as an excuse if they got caught ("_No_, Mimi, we _weren't_ following you. We just were getting Takeru some fresh air and we just _happened_ to be in the same area…this is purely coincidence, nothing else."). But it had been fun until Taichi abruptly decided to take him back home. He didn't know why Taichi had been so worried; he had only been dizzy for a second, after all, but his reaction was almost as bad as Yamato's would have been had his older brother been there. So now he was back at the apartment, forbidden once again to go outside, not that he really had anywhere to go besides the fact that it was freezing outside.

Then he remembered he had other options.

He went over to the computer and pulled up the Digital World. He locked onto Patamon's signal and was delighted to find that his partner was in a section of the Digital World that was neither cold nor covered with snow (because with the Digital World, you never knew; it could have been either one and not just both). He found the nearest portal, thinking that no one could really complain if he went to get some fresh air in a place that was warm and not nearly as hazardous to his health (giant evil monsters notwithstanding). He pulled on his shoes, grabbed his D-Terminal, and used his D-3 to go to the Digital World.

Using his D-3 as a guide, he quickly located Patamon. The little orange Digimon was ecstatic as usual to see him, flying straight into his chest while crying out his name. Takeru laughed and hugged Patamon tightly to himself as his face broke into a wide smile. There was something about the little guy that couldn't help but cheer him up. All it took was Patamon's eyes to go wide with concern and the question, "What's wrong, Takeru?" before he began to tell Patamon about the past few days; all about his illness, the strange dreams he had been having, and everything else.

"I don't know what to do, Patamon," he finished. Sometime during his speech, he had sat down on the ground and Patamon had taken his usual spot on top of Takeru's head.

"You should tell Yamato and Taichi," Patamon said. "They always fix everything."

Takeru chuckled softly. "Usually whether I want them to or not," he added.

Suddenly he felt something that could only be described as a call. It was like someone was reaching out to him, and it felt almost familiar, like something from a forgotten dream. He cautiously reached back, not sensing anything malicious in the call and not really sure exactly what he was doing, since he had never done anything like this as far as he could remember. He felt something answer briefly and if he had to describe it, he was say it was like a small light in the darkness that answered.

Moments later he saw a pillar shoot into the air that was about half-white and half-black shooting up to the sky not far from where he and Patamon were. Takeru stood up in alarm and he felt Patamon take flight off from his head. "What is that?" he asked out loud.

"I don't know, Takeru," Patamon answered. "It kind of looks like what happened when you opened a portal in the summer, but the one you opened was all white."

Takeru frowned in confusion. He had opened that portal from the Dark World. He wondered if that meant someone had just come from the Dark World. Knowing that he couldn't let something evil wander about the Digital World and not try to do anything about it, he decided to go check it out. He cast a glance at Patamon, deciding on whether to use Pegasusmon or Angemon to get over there. Riding Pegasusmon would be more comfortable than being carried by Angemon, but Angemon was more effective in a fight against dark Digimon, not to mention he had quicker access to MagnaAngemon, in case a quick power up was needed. He came to the conclusion that comfort came second; he asked Patamon, "Are you ready to Digivolve?"

Patamon nodded before calling out, "Patamon Digivolve to…Angemon!"

Takeru smiled, basking in presence of his partner. He loved Patamon; he adored his little Digimon more than anything else. But there was something about Angemon that went beyond that; an extra feeling of comfort and safety when the Angel Digimon was around that he always loved. Angemon picked him up and they flew to where the pillar had appeared which just so happened to be a flower covered meadow. Takeru saw something on the ground in the center of the field. Angemon landed at the tree line, on the edge of the meadow, far enough away to err on the side of safety, but close enough to walk. When they landed, Angemon didn't revert back to Patamon. Takeru was thankful for the precaution without him having to say anything. If something had come from the Dark World, it was really better to be safe than sorry.

As they got closer to the figure in the field, Takeru found that it was a girl, probably around the same age as he was, lying on the ground. Her eyes were closed, but Takeru was unsure if she was merely asleep or unconscious. He glanced around for her Digimon partner, but didn't see one immediately. He supposed it was possible the Digimon had wandered off to find help, if the girl was indeed unconscious. He had never known a human to come to the Digital World without having a Digimon partner.

His desire to help overcoming his common sense, he ran over to where the girl was and knelt at her side. He reached out and brushed some strands of her long brown hair back from her face. Two thoughts brushed his mind almost immediately. The first was a thought of how pretty the girl was, while the second was a hope that they could become good friends. Before he could dwell too much on those thoughts, all of the medical information that Jyou had told him about treating victims raced across his brain. He wondered exactly what he could do, since he couldn't very well call for help or an ambulance. Not that he wouldn't necessarily be surprised to find an ambulance somewhere in the Digital World, though he doubted if he did find one that it would have the same use here as in the real world.

"Do you know her, Takeru?" Angemon asked bringing Takeru back from his thoughts.

Takeru shook his head. "I've never seen her before, but she has to be a Digidestined, right?" He looked her over and didn't really see any injuries. He knew he shouldn't move her (Jyou had iterated that _so _many times), but he checked her pulse and her breathing and found them normal. He shook her slightly to see if she would wake up, and when she didn't, he came to the conclusion that she was in fact unconscious and not just asleep.

"I've never heard of a human coming here that wasn't Digidestined," Angemon said. "What should we do with her?"

"I don't really know," Takeru said. Not knowing what else to do, he reached into one of the pockets of the zipper sweatshirt she was wearing, searching for something to give him an indication of who this girl could be. He frowned when he felt an oddly familiar shaped object. He pulled it out and frowned deeper at the pink D-3 he now held in his hand. As far as he knew, there were only five D-3s in the entire world and they belonged to himself, Daisuke, Ken, Miyako, and Iori. So the question now came of how this girl had one as well. He wondered if she could be a new Digidestined and perhaps that pillar had been her being pulled into the Digital World for the first time, rather than coming from the Dark World.

A soft groan emitted from the girl's lips and her eyelids fluttered briefly, but her eyes did not open. Takeru set the D-3 down, figuring he could ask Koushiro about it later, once he's taken care of the girl. He placed a hand on the side of her face, hoping that she would wake up soon and give him more of an idea of what he could do for her. Suddenly, her hand reached up to cover his, then her eyes slowly opened to reveal a warm cinnamon color. "Hey, are you all right?" Takeru asked her softly, once her eyes focused on him.

Her reaction was not exactly what he was expecting. She began to scream and pulled away from him, sitting up and pushing away from him. Her eyes were full of fright and panic as her gaze flickered between him and Angemon.

Takeru reached out a hand, intending to comfort her. "It's all right," he said. "I'm not going to hurt you." He scooted closer to her, but didn't get much closer than a few feet before she screamed again. This time she threw her hands out in front of her. Black beams streaked in pink light shot from her hands at Takeru.

Takeru threw up his hands defensively in response as his golden shield appeared just barely in time to block the beams from hitting him and Angemon. The girl stared at her hands with disbelief and shock etched into every inch of her body. Takeru looked at Angemon and found that he was shocked as well. Takeru didn't know any other Digidestined that had special powers in the Digital World like he did, but here was this girl that clearly did. Though judging from her shocked look, she had no idea what she did. Takeru let the shield drop, because he didn't think she attacked him on purpose and wasn't really necessarily a threat to him. She just seemed lost and confused to him.

Tears began to stream down her face. She pulled up her knees to her chest as she wrapped her arms around them and hid her face in them. Her body began to shake slightly, and Takeru thought that perhaps she might be sobbing.

Takeru stood up and took a step toward her. "Takeru, are you sure that's a good idea?" Angemon asked as he placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "She did attack us."

"I don't think she meant to," Takeru said. "She needs our help, Angemon," he added earnestly. The two of them stood there for just a few seconds, until Angemon nodded and took his hand away. Takeru was glad his partner trusted him enough to let him do this. He_ had_ to help this girl. He took another cautious step forward, not wanting to be attacked again, but desiring to comfort her and let her know that he wasn't an enemy, but someone who could be her friend. When she didn't even react, he took the final few steps it took to reach her.

He knelt back down next to her and softly put a hand on her shoulder very slowly, trying not to alarm her as much as possible. He whispered a soft, "Hey." She gasped and looked up at him with eyes red from crying, but still full of panic. Takeru smiled at her and could see her soften just a little. "It's all right," he repeated to her. Since she didn't pull away, he placed his other hand on her other shoulder. "You're safe with me," he assured her.

It was a few seconds before she really responded, after just staring at him with wariness in her eyes. Finally, one of her hands reached out and grasped the fabric of his shirt in a light grip. She leaned forward slightly, just enough for him to take it as her acceptance of him.

He didn't know what exactly made him do what he did next. Perhaps it was the strange, fierce desire he held to protect and take care of this girl he barely knew. Perhaps it was just an impulse, a spur of the moment, something that just happened without him having to think about it. But he pulled the girl up into his arms and wrapped his arms around her small frame, not holding her too tightly, in case she wanted to pull away.

She stiffened almost immediately, but she didn't pull away. He hugged her just slightly tighter to himself, wondering where exactly the feelings of needing to protect her came from. He wondered if those strange dreams he been having the past few days had anything about it, but his thoughts were cut short when the girl relaxed into his embrace. Her arms flew around him as she buried her face in his chest and she held onto him almost like her life depended on it.

When she began crying again, he just held her and whispered comforting words into her ear as his hand stroked through her hair. Soon, he could feel her body relax even more as her grip around him slackened slightly. Her breathing became more even. He knew that she was going to sleep, hopefully a peaceful one. He sighed slightly, wondering what exactly he was going to do with her.

* * *

She didn't know anything. She didn't know who she was, where she was, or how she had gotten there. She didn't even know the boy that held her so gently, so comfortingly in his arms, though there was something that was peculiarly familiar in those bright blue eyes. She didn't know how she had attacked him with those black beams and if she was being honest, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know about that.

But she did know that his smiles brought a joy to her that she could hardly explain.

She knew that he would help her. She let herself relax in his arms. She liked the comforting words he was whispering in her ears and she liked the feel of his hand stroking through her hair. She wondered at herself that she didn't try to stop him, but somehow, it felt right to be there, right as she was. As the tears stopped, she closed her eyes and let sleep come to her because somehow she knew that nothing would happen to her as long as she was with him. Her final thoughts drifted across her mind before she succumbed.

This felt safe.

This felt warm.

This felt like…home.

* * *

Gatomon stood with Wizardmon at the edge of a field of flowers, watching the two Digidestined and Angemon that were in the center. Her eyes quickly flicked around to find the second Digimon that would be partnered with the other Digidestined, but couldn't find one. She wondered where it was, but didn't dwell on it long. Her eyes narrowed and focused on the brown haired girl that the blond boy had on his arms. She had watched the whole scene, having not been far away when she and Wizardmon saw the pillar. They had arrived to investigate just before the boy had flow down with Angemon. They had stayed hidden, deciding to be merely observers to the whole affair. She had heard rumors of Digidestined having powers like Digimon, which she had found extremely odd, but it was the first time she had seen it for herself.

When her eyes first saw the girl, she had felt something; she had no words to describe it. She was even uncertain of whether what she felt was good or bad. "Do you know who they are, Wizardmon?"

"I remember the blond boy," Wizardmon replied. "His name is Takeru; he was part of the prophecy that I heard from Azulongmon this past summer. He and his partner are a powerful team. It was his Angemon that destroyed Phantomon during the first battle with Myotismon, don't you remember?"

Gatomon nodded slowly, sort of remembering the arrival of Angemon into the battle, vague memories of a small boy in green passing through her mind. She could hardly believe that the boy in the field was the same person. Humans certainly changed a lot as years passed. "What about the girl? Do you know who she is?" she asked Wizardmon with just a hint of desperation in her tone. She felt something in her seize up, in a tense anxiety of what his answer might be. She didn't know why it was so important to her; she was certain she had never seen the girl before. But something in her had to know.

"I've never seen her before," Wizardmon answered. "There are quite a few more Digidestined than the original seven that I met before. Other than the four new ones that I met briefly this summer, I'm afraid I do not know them all. But she has to be a Digidestined. It seems Takeru knows her. Why do you ask?"

Gatomon looked up at her friend and saw quiet kindness in his inquiring eyes. "I'm not sure," Gatomon said. "It's just…when I saw her I thought…" She trailed off, not finding the words to explain what she felt.

"Do you want to go talk to them?" Wizardmon asked.

Gatomon thought for a moment before flicking her tail and turning away from the field to begin walking away. "No," she answered as Wizardmon followed her. "What purpose would it have?"

"As long as that is what your heart tells you," Wizardmon said.

Gatomon stopped for a moment at his words, her eyes flicking back to the group in the field. She didn't really know what her heart was telling her or where her answers would be. She was certain that what she was looking for wouldn't be with some human Digidestined. She turned back away and scampered off back into the trees with Wizardmon flying behind her. This time, she didn't look back.


	9. Amnesia

He wasn't exactly sure how much time passed as he knelt with her sleeping in his arms, wondering what he was supposed to do now. Angemon stood quietly in vigil, letting their time pass in a calm silence. Takeru picked up her D-3 again from where he had discarded it and puzzled over the device some more. Eventually, she stirred slightly. As she did, he hooked her D-3 next to his. He felt her fingers briefly clench around the fabric of his shirt before she gave a cry and pushed away from him. She looked in his eyes with panic again for a few seconds before recognition flashed in them as he said soothingly, "It's all right."

She nodded mutely. He wondered if she could even understand him. He contemplated trying to talk to her in the French he learned while he had been living in France, but figured the likelihood of her being from France was probably slim. Deciding he should just start at the beginning, he said, as he pointed to himself, "I'm Takeru."

Her eyes went past him to stare at Angemon. Takeru followed her gaze and smiled. He waved a hand at his partner as he said, "That's Angemon." Hoping he was getting his point across, he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, "What's your name?"

She opened her mouth, but shut it again almost immediately as her brows furrowed in confusion. She shook her head at him slightly a slight helpless and mild panicked look in her eyes. Thinking she just hadn't understood him, he pointed to himself again and said, "Takeru." He pointed back to Angemon and said, "Angemon." He pointed to her again and asked, "What's your name?"

She shook her head again and shrugged. She opened her mouth again, but closed it just as quickly, shaking her head once more. A suspicion crept into Takeru's mind, due to her rather strange behavior. "Can you talk?" he asked, not knowing if it would have any use.

Her eyes met his and she slowly shook her head. "You can understand me?" he asked a little incredulously. Slowly, she nodded. Takeru pondered this new information of the girl knowing Japanese (because as far as he knew, there weren't any other Japanese Digidestined besides their group) and the girl's strange inability to speak. She shrugged helplessly again.

An idea struck him, but he needed to go back to the real world. He certainly wasn't going to leave her here, especially without a partner in sight. "Will you come with me?" he asked her as he stood up and held out his hand. She stared at his hand for a moment, before her gaze lifted back to his eyes. She hesitated for another second before she gave another slow nod and took his hand. He helped her to her feet. They turned to Angemon who stood patiently waiting. "I need to go home," Takeru told his Digimon. He glanced back at the girl before turning back to Angemon. "I think perhaps we need Pegasusmon," he added.

Angemon nodded. "All right, Takeru," he said before he de-Digivolved back to Patamon. As he reached into his pocket for his D-Terminal, he felt the girl take a cautious step back. He turned and saw the wariness in her eyes as she stared at Patamon. "Have you never seen a Digivolution before?" he asked surprised. He was really wondering where her partner was. She shook her head quickly at him. He smiled reassuringly at her and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "It's okay," he told her. "He's a friend. Trust me."

She nodded at him after a moment's pause and stepped closer to him. Takeru smiled and turned back to Patamon before saying, "Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Patamon Armor Digivolve to…Pegasusmon, Flying Hope!" Takeru felt the girl squeeze his hand tightly as her other hand came up to grip her arm, but she didn't step away. Pegasusmon knelt so Takeru could climb aboard. The girl climbed on behind him and gripped her arms around his waist. They flew back to the portal where Takeru asked Pegasusmon to stick around in case her partner showed up sometime. Pegasusmon nodded before saying, "I'll see you soon, Takeru."

Takeru said good-bye and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her into the real world with him. "Come with me," he said to her and walked into the living room. He sat her down on the couch and said, "Wait here. I'll be right back."

He walked back into his room and grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. He walked back out and sat down next to her. Using the coffee table he wrote: _Can you read this?_ He pushed the paper in front of her and set the pencil on top of the paper.

She picked up the pencil and in tidy, neat handwriting wrote: _Yes_. She looked up at him again.

Grinning because his idea worked, he asked her again, "What's your name?"

Her attention was back on the paper as she wrote: _I don't know._

Alarmed at her words he asked, "What do you mean you don't know?"

_I can't remember. The first thing I remember is seeing you._ She added another helpless shrug as she finished writing, her eyes downcast.

"I need to call Jyou," Takeru muttered voicing his first thoughts after hearing this as serious worry crept into him. If the girl had amnesia, then she might have a more serious injury than he could see. When he stood up, the girl gripped his arm. He looked down at her panicked eyes. She pointed at the paper where she had written: _What is it?_

"I think you might have amnesia," he told her. "I have a friend who might be able to help. I'm going to call him, all right?"

She nodded and let go of his arm. He went to the phone and dialed Jyou's number. Somewhat surprising, he answered.

"Hello, Jyou," he replied to his friend's greeting. "It's Takeru. I have a bit of a problem. Are you busy?"

"Sort of," Jyou said. "But I can spare a few minutes, I guess."

"I…uh…well, I found a girl," Takeru said sort of wondering how he should explain the problem.

There was a distinct pause where Jyou said nothing as Takeru thought of where to begin in his explanation of finding a random Japanese girl with no memory in the Digital World. As he was thinking, Jyou finally said, repeating Takeru's own words, "You found a girl."

"Yes," Takeru confirmed a little put off by Jyou's flat tone.

"Not that I'm not flattered that you would ask me for advice, but why didn't you call Yamato?"

"Why would I call Yamato?" Takeru asked thoroughly confused.

"I'm willing to give what advice I can, of course," Jyou continued. "But I really do think Yamato would have more input."

Takeru was about to ask what Jyou was talking about when it clicked. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "No, no, that's not what I meant," he hastily added. "I mean, I found a girl as in I _found_ her. Unconscious."

"Oh. Right," Jyou said. "Tell me what happened." His tone became serious at Takeru's words.

"She's awake now, but I think she might have amnesia because she can't remember anything."

"Do you know the hospital my dad works at?" Jyou asked.

"Yes," Takeru said with a wry smiled having just been there last week.

"Can you get her there?"

"Yes," Takeru said worry beginning to take over again.

"Take her and I'll meet you there."

"Okay," Takeru agreed and they hung up. He turned back to the girl, whose hand was writing something on the paper he had given her, but her eyes were staring at the opposite wall. He frowned. Even if she didn't have a name that she could remember, he couldn't keep thinking of her as "the girl". He thought about the flowered field that he had found her in and figured there were worse things he could call her. "Hey," he said quietly walking up behind her. She startled and stared up at him. "Sorry," he added softly. She nodded and continued to look at him expectantly. He shifted slightly on his feet. "Since you can't remember your name, do you mind if I call you Hana?"

She shook her head and gave him a small soft smile, the first he had seen on her face since meeting her. He felt a pang in his chest at the sight of it, but shook the feeling away. It would be really stupid of him to start liking a girl that didn't even know who she was. He froze for a second at the thought wondering where it had come from. His eyes broke contact from hers and fell upon the paper where she had been writing. His eyes widened in shock when he saw what she had written. She had written his name, correctly no less, and underneath it she had written: _hope._

"Why did you write that?" he asked quietly. She looked down at what she wrote. She looked back at him and shrugged with confusion in her eyes. It was simply impossible for her to know what his Crest was, even not factoring in the memory loss. While it wasn't necessarily a secret among the Digidestined that their original group was the one that once held the Crests, it wasn't really something they had talked about with the international Digidestined. Either it was a complete coincidence that she had randomly written the word "hope" or there was something in her memory that caused her to write this. Then he remembered Pegasusmon and his "Flying Hope", he said. It may have been that she picked up on that and wrote it. He smiled at her. "Never mind," he said smiling at her. "My friend says I should take you to the hospital in case you might be hurt. Are you all right with that?"

She bit her bottom lip and stood up. She gripped his sleeve between her thumb and fingers. She looked at him with wide imploring eyes and he thought he understood what she was asking. "I'll be with you the whole time. I promise." Relief came into her eyes and she nodded.

Luckily, it wasn't a very far walk to the hospital, ten or fifteen minutes at the most. He wrapped her up in his extra coat and gloves. He plucked his white beanie off the rack and pulled it over her ears before bundling up himself. He made note that if she was going to be around with him, he was going to have to find her something else to wear. Perhaps Mimi would have something he could borrow for her.

They walked to the hospital where they met Jyou at the entrance. Hana warily shifted closer to him as he approached. "Hello, I'm Jyou," he said, introducing himself and holding out his hand. Takeru looked at Hana to find her looking at him. He nodded smiling and Hana took Jyou's hand and let him shake it.

"I've called her Hana, since she can't remember her name," Takeru supplied.

Jyou nodded. "She doesn't seem like she's very injured," he said to Takeru. "I've told my dad the situation, and he's ready to run some tests."

"I promised I'd stay with her," Takeru said.

Jyou smiled at him. "That shouldn't be a problem."

Hours later, after a few tests, found the trio in a hospital room with Hana in the bed, Takeru next to her and Jyou standing anxiously by the door. Dr. Kido, Jyou's father, walked in and they all looked up at him. He spoke quietly to Jyou, who nodded and walked out of the room. He then beckoned Takeru, who quietly assured Hana that he'd be right back and followed the doctor out of the room.

"Well, other than the amnesia, we didn't find anything to be concerned about," Dr. Kido said. "There were some bruises on her upper arms and shoulders, however. Can you tell us exactly where you found her?" This he directed at Takeru.

Takeru exchanged a glance with Jyou (having filled him in about finding her in the Digital World), who shook his head ever so slightly. "It was near my apartment," Takeru told him, bending the truth a little. "I'm not exactly sure where. Why?"

Dr. Kido stared at him for a moment, and Takeru resisted squirming under his heavy gaze. Finally he said, "She may have run away from someone hurting her and this amnesia and muteness is her mind's way of protecting her from the memories. This is just speculation of course, but it is possible. We've contacted the authorities, but no one has reported a missing girl."

"Can I take her home then?" Takeru asked.

Dr. Kido gave him another piercing glare. "You're hardly old enough to be her temporary guardian. I'm afraid I can't let her go with you."

Takeru blanched. He hadn't expected them to separate him from Hana. He didn't know why, but he had a sudden feeling that it would be a _terrible_ thing to do. "But-but I'm all she knows," he protested. "She can't remember anything but me. It can't be good to separate her from that, right? Besides, I live with my dad and I know he'd been fine with taking care of her." Takeru actually was sure of this. All he had to do was mention the Digital World, and his father was prone to let him do whatever he felt was best.

"I can vouch for Mr. Ishida, Dad," Jyou put in. "And Takeru's right. I don't think it would be in Hana's best interest to separate her from the one person she knows and trusts."

"Very well," Dr. Kido said after a few seconds of tense silence. "I'll see what I can do."

Takeru felt very strongly that he didn't care what he had to do, _no one_ was going to separate him from Hana, especially after hearing that someone might have been hurting her. He went back into the room and immediately went to her side. It was some time later, late into the evening, when Dr. Kido came back and gave him permission to take Hana back to his apartment. Takeru promised to call or come to the hospital immediately if any other symptoms came up and left his phone number with the doctor so that they could contact him if someone came looking for Hana.

Jyou offered to drive them home, since it was getting so late and it was rather dark outside. By the time they got home, Hana had started dozing off on his shoulder. He took her up to the apartment where he gave her some of his old clothes. "I'll be right outside," he told her, pointing out to the living room, where he planned to sleep on the couch and let Hana sleep in his bed. She nodded and put her arms around him in a hug, which he returned. She picked up a spare bit of paper and a pencil and wrote: _Thank you. _"You're welcome," he told her.

She climbed into the bed and pulled the sheets around herself. He watched her for a few minutes, until her chest was rising and falling in even breaths, telling him she had gone to sleep. He went out into the living room and sat on the couch. He quietly flipped through the television stations as he waited for his dad to get home.

Finally the front door opened and Hiroaki walked in. "Hey, Dad," Takeru said, standing up to face his father.

Hiroaki looked at him in surprise. "Takeru," he said. "What are doing up? You're usually in bed by now."

"I know," Takeru said. He smiled suddenly. "It is vacation, you know, though," he added casually. He knew deep down that he was stalling. Despite his earlier certainty that his father was be fine with Hana staying with them, now that the time had come to explain, he realized he really didn't _know_ what his dad's reaction would be.

Hiroaki nodded. "I guess that true," he said, coming further into the apartment and standing a few feet from Takeru. "Guess with you going to bed early because you weren't well, I kind of forgot."

"There's also someone already in my bed," Takeru said as casually as he could manage.

Hiroaki froze for a second with his head tilted in confusion and thought. Then suddenly, he grinned. "Did Yamato stay over and kick you out?"

Takeru shook his head and decided to get it over with. "I found a girl in the Digital World today," he told his father. "She has amnesia. I took her to the hospital with Jyou and had his father check her out. No one's reporting a missing girl, so I convinced them to let me bring her home, because I'm the only person she knows now, until they can find her family. I told them you would be fine with it, and I thought you would be since I'm pretty sure she's a Digidestined like me and Yamato, and well…you know about the Digital World and everything." He said all this in a rush, not making eye contact, not sure he wanted his father to interrupt, in case he decided to kick Hana out. Takeru felt fury at the thought, knowing without a doubt that if his father sent Hana away, he would be going with her. He was surprised at the sudden strength of his feelings about this girl. He didn't know where they came from. He, after all, had known Hana for less than a whole day.

He lifted his eyes to meet his father's. There was a minute or so where his father looked at him with a strange expression, one Takeru couldn't really define. Finally, Hiroaki slowly nodded. "All right," he said. "She can at least stay during vacation. If they don't find her family by the end of it…well, we'll see," he finished.

Happiness burst through Takeru. "Thanks, Dad," he said grinning broadly and his dad jumped slight in surprise.

But then he grinned again. "Is she pretty?" Hiroaki asked slyly.

"Dad," Takeru said with exasperation, but he could feel his cheeks redden in embarrassment.

His father chuckled softly. "Just asking," he said, putting his hands up in front of him. He told Takeru good night, which Takeru returned, before retreating into his bedroom.

With his father gone, Takeru pulled out some blankets and a pillow and set himself up on the couch, telling himself to call Mimi in the morning to see if he could borrow some things for Hana.


	10. Unknown

Mimi was surprised when Takeru called her Monday morning asking if he could come over and bring a friend. He told her he had a problem that he'd hoped she could help him with. Not willing to turn down a friend in trouble, she quickly agreed and told him to come right on over. As she idly flipped through a magazine as she waited for him to arrive, she wondered what he could need her help with.

She certainly wasn't expecting him to show up at her door with a rather pretty girl just drowning in the coat far too big for her small frame.

Mimi stepped aside after a moment of shock to allow them into the apartment and busied herself by taking their things. She found that underneath the coat, the girl was wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt at least three sizes too big (if not more) that she rather suspected belonged to Takeru.

"Thanks for letting us come, Mimi," Takeru said as she ushered them into the living room.

"It's no problem," Mimi said smiling brightly. As her curiosity got the better of her, she turned to the girl and said, "Now, I don't believe we've met before. I'm Mimi."

The girl glanced imploringly at Takeru, who gave her a reassuring smile. "This is Hana," Takeru said. "She can't…er…well, she can't talk," he finished as he rubbed a hand at the back of his head and gave Mimi a wary smile.

"Oh," Mimi said, unsure of what she could say to that. She had never met someone who couldn't talk before and she had no idea what this girl was doing with Takeru. She was sure he would explain eventually.

"Where are Sora and Miyako?" Takeru asked (coming to her rescue, Mimi suspected) as he led Hana to sit down.

"They left a little while after you called," Mimi answered. "Sora went to Yamato's and Miyako's dragging Ken around somewhere. I really rather think she's making up for lost time while they're in separate schools." She settled into the seat across from them (Takeru had sat next to Hana) and said brightly, "Now, tell me what you need."

She listened with avid interest as Takeru briefly explained how he had found Hana with no memory and how he wanted to help her. "And well, now, I was kind of hoping that I could borrow some things from you for Hana, since I don't really have stuff for her to wear or anything."

"Of course," Mimi said, thrilled at the chance to makeover this small girl in front of her. "She can't very well go around wearing _your_ clothes. It's really not flattering _at all_." She stood up, ideas about hair going through her head as she mentally ran through the clothes in her, Sora's and Miyako's closets as well. She smiled and beckoned the girl. "Come along, dear."

Hana laid her hand on Takeru's arm and Mimi saw a little bit of worry in them. The poor girl had probably latched onto Takeru when he saved her and was no doubt wary of other people. Mimi couldn't even imagine not knowing anyone. Takeru smiled at Hana, patting her hand gently and there was a tenderness in his eyes when he looked at her that Mimi had never seen before in Takeru that she was slightly taken aback at the sight of it. But then her mouth curled into a coy smile. Now that she looked at them, they did rather make a cute pair. "I'll stay right here, I promise," Takeru was saying to Hana. "Go with Mimi. Trust me. She's very nice."

Hana finally nodded and stood up. Mimi hurried her into the bathroom first, where she hustled her into the bath. In Mimi's opinion, there was nothing quite like a nice long warm bath to make a girl feel better. "I'll be right back," she said to Hana before walking out of the bathroom to go pick out some clothes for her to wear.

"Mimi?" Takeru's voice stopped her on the way there.

"Yes, Takeru?"

"Do you mind if I call Koushiro over?" he asked. "There's something I need to talk with him about."

Mimi smiled. "Of course I don't mind," she said. She continued to the bedroom where she began sifting through her closet, throwing a few things out that she was willing to let Hana take with her, but not finding something to put on her now. She was determined that she needed to produce a "wow" factor for "the plan" that she was quickly forming. Takeru had finally shown some kind of interest in a girl and Mimi was determined to help as much as she could. She finally reached the back of the closet where her hand landed on a certain mint green dress, so pale it was almost white. She pulled it out and frowned at it because she was certain this dress did _not_ belong to her. She vaguely remembered buying it, but the size wouldn't fit her. It also wasn't Sora's or Miyako's size, she realized after another second, so she wouldn't have bought it for either of them as a gift.

She held it out away from her so she could get a better look at it. It was really a cute dress. She must have just not been able to leave it in the store. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time she had done something like that. But judging from its size and length, she thought it might fit Hana. Deciding to try it, she rummaged through the rest of her things for accessories to put with it and raced back to the bathroom with her arms full.

Hana was out of the bath and wrapped in a towel, wringing out her dark brown hair when Mimi arrived back in the bathroom. Putting the things she brought with her down in a spare space on the vanity, Mimi went over to Hana and set her firmly but gently down in a stool she kept in the bathroom for this specific purpose. She pulled out her appliances, plugged them in, and started blowing Hana's hair dry. Hana was silent though all of this (and a little tense, perhaps from all the attention, Mimi surmised), not that she could say another if she wanted to, so Mimi talked idly to fill the room with chatter.

"You know, it's just like Takeru to do this sort of thing. He really is the nicest guy, and I'm not really surprised to find him being your knight in shining armor. He simply _can't_ leave people in trouble. Not that the rest of us _would _leave people in trouble, mind you, but Takeru's one of those guys that doesn't really think of his own safety first. Why, I remember last summer I was terrified to learn he had jumped into a Digimon attack without Patamon with him. He could have gotten _really_ hurt, and I know that would have just been devastating, because he's…well, he's _Takeru_. Do you mind if I curl you hair? I think it would look _so_ pretty." Hana shook her head. "Great! I can't tell you how happy I am to have someone to dress up. Sora and Miyako hardly ever let me work on them anymore. They're always so busy with their boyfriends. Though now I'm kind of hoping that Koushiro and I will, you know, become a couple sometime soon. I hadn't really thought about him _that_ way before, but when Miyako suggested I take him on our double date, I found that I wasn't really against it. I mean, I always thought he was rather adorable, but he was always on that _stupid_ computer and always _ignoring_ me! Though, I guess, this past summer was really the only time we had hung out alone together for any extensive amount of time. Except Takeru was there and our Digimon, but they didn't really count. Takeru was usually off doing his own thing. We'd only hung out with the whole group before. I guess there was that one time on File Island when we were by ourselves, that little incident with Centarumon, but we were kids! And ooh, he made me _so_ mad then, ignoring me _again!_ Anyway, he was always on his computer this past summer _all the time_, but I totally understand why. I really do. I didn't want Takeru to get kidnapped either. But if you spend that much time with someone, a bond is bound to be created, you know? So, I think I really rather _do_ like Koushiro," she concluded, having finished getting Hana's hair into soft curls that floated down her back.

"Do you like it?" Mimi asked her. Hana nodded and Mimi exclaimed, "Great! Let's get you dressed now."

Mimi helped her into the dress, which fit her perfectly and fell to just the right length around her ankles. She handed Hana a pink cardigan to put over it, since it was only a mid-length sleeve and it was, after all, still December. She pulled Hana back to the stool. "Let's finish your hair and make-up," she told her.

Mimi pulled Hana's hair up into a loose bun behind her head and caused the curls to sort of blossom around it. She fixed in a pink flower clip on the side of the bun to complete the look. She applied just the barest hint of make-up, just enough to enhance Hana's features. She hooked a light silver chain around Hana's neck that held a delicate silver flower charm. She finished by putting little pink bobs in her ears. Mimi stepped back and grinned because she quite proud of her work. "There. All done," she said, turning Hana to let her look at herself in the mirror. A blush came across Hana's cheeks quite becomingly as her eyes turned downcast. "I'm sure Takeru will love it," Mimi said and she saw the barest hint of a smile cross Hana's lips at her words. "Let's go see him."

She got Hana to stand up and followed her out of the door. She spotted Takeru on the couch where they had left him (apparently Koushiro had not arrived yet as he was nowhere in sight) with his D-Terminal in his hands. He looked like he was typing a message of some kind. Mimi cleared her throat loudly, when he didn't immediately turn his attention to them.

"Yes?" he said, turning to look at them, closing the D-Terminal and setting it down and froze when his saw them. Mimi smiled triumphantly, completely satisfied by the thunderstruck look on his face when he saw Hana, his mouth gaping open just slightly.

"It's much more flattering than your T-shirt, don't you think?" Mimi asked, her grin still plastered on her face, not resisting the urge to tease. She was going to do everything she could to make sure these two got together. They were just _too_ cute _not_ to do anything.

"Yes," Takeru answered recovering from his shock as his signature smile came onto his face. "She's very pretty."

Mimi nodded, once again satisfied as she chanced a glance at Hana and saw a blush on the girl's face again. There was definitely something between them that Mimi was determined to exploit to the best of her ability. "Is Koushiro coming," she asked as Hana walked over to Takeru, who followed her the whole way with his eyes.

"Yes," Takeru answered as he finally looked away from Hana to Mimi. "He said he'd be over as soon as he could."

"Wonderful!" Mimi said. "That means we've got loads of time. I'll just whip us up some lunch, shall I? You two just wait in here." She skipped into the kitchen to fix lunch, leaving Hana and Takeru alone in the living room. Which was, of course, all according to "the plan".

After lunch, they all sat on the couches, waiting for Koushiro to show up. Hana laid her head on Takeru's shoulder and, a few minutes later, fell asleep. "She must have been through a lot," Takeru said quietly. "It's really no wonder that she's exhausted."

"She's got you now," Mimi pointed out to him as casually as she could. "I know you'll protect her. It's what you do."

Whatever Takeru might have answered was interrupted by a knock on the door which Mimi sort of reluctantly went to answer. She had been so close to getting in another nudge between the two, which would help "the plan".

* * *

Takeru hadn't really said much over the phone, not even the reason he was _at_ the girls' apartment in the first place, so Koushiro had no idea what he was supposed to be expecting. He was a little apprehensive to see Mimi again, since it would have been the first time they had seen each other since Saturday. He had always had sort of a crush on the exuberant girl, but he had usually used his computer to hide away in so as not to give away his feelings for her while she was around. He had been really surprised when she called to ask him out last week, but he hadn't known what to expect. Despite the fact that he liked her, they didn't really have that much in common beyond both being Digidestined. But it had been a surprisingly fun time and he could tell that Mimi enjoyed herself as well.

When he knocked on the door, however, he realized that for whatever reason Takeru had called him over for, it probably really didn't have anything to do with Mimi at all. So he was determined to be focused on whatever problem Takeru had to present him and to try and not let Mimi distract him. Mimi answered the door to let him in. Other than a bright smile and a cheerful greeting, she didn't give any indication of why he was here. She led him into the living room, where Takeru sat with a sleeping girl leaning on his shoulder that he had never seen before. He suspected that this girl was probably part of whatever situation they were in.

"Hello, Takeru," he said as he walked into the room and slide his bag off his shoulder. "What do you need?"

"Koushiro," Takeru said as he looked at him. He reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt and pulled something out. He held whatever it was up toward him and said, "This is what I wanted to talk to you about."

Koushiro looked at the item resting in Takeru's hand and frowned. "A D-3?" he asked taking the pink device from Takeru's hand, his curiosity spiking as he studied it and thought of reasons why Takeru would need his help. But then he noted the color again. Takeru's D-3 was not pink. Actually, to his knowledge, none of the D-3's that he knew about were pink. "This doesn't belong to you," he said out loud. "Whose is it?"

Takeru looked at the girl next to him. "It's hers," he said and Koushiro looked at the girl slight shocked. "I found her in the Digital World, unconscious," he added, quickly glancing at Koushiro. "She has amnesia and can't remember anything. But I found that in her pocket."

Koushiro puzzled over the D-3. He didn't really know why some unknown girl had the device. Theories rushed across his mind, but no conclusions. "The Sovereigns are the ones who gave you four the D-3's to battle Ken and his D-3 that was created in the Dark World," he said, thinking out loud. "There shouldn't be any other ones then the five that you guys possess. All the international Digidestined received their Digivices after the events with Apocalymon and are therefore in possession of the same version of Digivices that the rest of the original team have."

"I know," Takeru said, nodding his head. "Which is why I wanted to talk to you. Gennai should know all the Digidestined, right? He should know who she is. And I was hoping that might help us find her family in the real world. I know she's Japanese because she can understand me, and she writes me messages when she needs to tell me something. The police are looking for her family, but if we knew her name, I'm sure that it would be much easier to find them."

Koushiro nodded. It was probably the best course of action under the circumstances and the girl had certainly roused his interest. He kneeled next to the coffee table, pulled out his computer, and opened it up. "I'll ask," he said. He sent a message off to Gennai, describing the D-3 and giving a brief description of the girl.

He was about to ask Takeru to tell him the whole story of how he had found the girl and to tell him any information about her, when a notice popped up telling him that Gennai had replied. "Prodigious!" he said as Gennai had never answered so promptly before, but then again, Gennai probably didn't have much else to do these days now that peace was restored once again to the worlds. He opened the message and read it quickly. A frown formed on his face as he scanned it once more. "That's odd," he said out loud, rubbing his chin absently in thought. "Gennai said that there is no such Digidestined."

"How can that be?" Mimi asked. "I mean, she's right there. It's not like we're imagining things."

"That's why I said it's odd," Koushiro said. "He writes that they have no record of anyone else besides Takeru, Daisuke, Iori, Miyako, and Ken ever having received a D-3. _And_ he says that there is no other Japanese Digidestined besides the ones in our group."

"I found the D-3 with her," Takeru protested, and Koushiro was rather surprised by the fierceness in his voice. "She _has_ to be a Digidestined."

"Tell me what happened exactly," Koushiro said. "This time, don't leave anything out."


	11. Crests

Koushiro listened to Takeru's story, as did Mimi. Koushiro only interrupted twice, once when Takeru mentioned the pillar of black and white and the second time when Takeru mentioned how Hana had attacked him, though Mimi thought those had been in surprise most than anything else, because he only asked for clarification before allowing Takeru to continue. "And that's it," Takeru said after he had finished.

Mimi looked at Koushiro to see what he would say, and his eyebrows were furrowed adorably in thought. "Well, despite what Gennai said, I'm going to have to agree with you, Takeru. She has to be a Digidestined." Takeru nodded, not saying anything, but allowing Koushiro to continue. "Furthermore, I believe that she probably has a Crest as well."

Mimi was so surprised that she blurted out, "What?"

"Well, we know that Takeru's powers come from his connection to his Crest," Koushiro explained. "If Hana has powers as well, it would only logically make sense that she would have a connection to a Crest as well."

"That all makes sense," Takeru said. "Though, I do rather think there is a 'but' coming."

"You're right," Koushiro said. "The only solution that I could think of for her being a Digidestined without Gennai knowing about it would be if her D-3 came from someplace such as the Dark World, like where Ken's came from."

"That is not possible!" Takeru said emphatically. Mimi was happy to see him jump so quickly to Hana's defense. "Hana is not evil!"

"I didn't say that," Koushiro said, but didn't get to say much else as Hana opened her eyes wearily and lifted her head off Takeru's shoulder.

She looked around at the people around her before she picked a pencil and wrote on a paper: _What's wrong?_

"Nothing," Takeru assured her.

"Look," Koushiro said, packing up his computer and standing up. "I'll talk with Gennai again and see if we can come up with some answers. I'll call you tomorrow."

Mimi followed him to the door and let him out, but not before telling him she'd call him sometime to go out again, if he wanted to. He agreed and left out the door. Mimi came back into the living room area and asked, "So what are you guys going to do now?"

Takeru glanced down at Hana for a moment, before looking back up at her. "I'm not really sure," he said with mild frustration underlining his voice. "I guess I could go over to the guys' apartment on the off chance that one of them might be able to recognize her." He ran a hand through his hair. "It just doesn't make any sense," he muttered.

"I'll go pack some things for you to take with you for Hana," Mimi said before walking back into her bedroom. She picked up the things she had thrown out of her closet earlier and folded them neatly into a bag. She went into the bathroom and picked out an extra comb and other things that she thought Hana would need and packed those into the bag.

She went back out the bathroom and handed the bag toward her friends who were standing idly in the hallway. Takeru took the bag and reached for the white beanie that Hana had been wearing when she arrived. Mimi laid her hand on his arm to stop him. "No _way_ are you putting that on her and messing up her hair that I spent so long on," she told him firmly. "Wait right here."

She ran back into her room for the items she was looking for. She came back with an elegant long white coat with matching gloves, a pair of white earmuffs, and white fur boots. She handed Takeru the coat, who helped Hana into it. She handed the gloves to Hana for the girl to put on herself, before carefully placing the ear muffs over her head, careful not to mess up the bun that she had made. She'd rather not have her wear them, but Takeru probably would have put up a fuss about the girl getting cold. Boys just did not understand that sometimes you had to suffer to pull off a good look. But Takeru had an overprotective streak in him, which Mimi had sort of found amusing, giving how much he used to complain about Yamato's hovering.

She handed Hana the boots, which the girl pulled on. Hana gave her a small smile and nod. "You're welcome," Mimi said, interpreting the look and guessed she got it right when Hana brightened a little more.

"Thanks, Mimi," Takeru said, adding his gratitude. "Do you mind if I come back for this later?" he asked, pointing to the extra coat that Hana had worn over to the apartment.

"Not at all," Mimi said, smiling brightly. "Don't be a stranger now," she added. "You can bring this darling girl over any time you want." Hopefully, they would come and she could further "the plan". Takeru and Hana left the apartment, hustling out back into the cold December air, leaving Mimi to come up with more ideas that she could use to get them together.

* * *

Yamato answered the door to his apartment to find his brother and a rather elegant-looking pretty girl standing outside it. The sight and idea that his brother was bringing a girl that Yamato didn't know over to his apartment kind of stunned him for a minute. Takeru smiled, a sort of amused understanding in his eyes, and asked, "Are you going to let us in?"

Yamato shook off his shock and, with a shake of his head, said, "Yeah, sorry."

Takeru stepped inside, with the girl following him. "So, I'm guessing you don't know Hana, right?" he asked as he took off his coat and then helped the girl out of hers.

"Who?" Yamato asked.

Before Takeru could answer, Sora walked up to them and said, "I thought I heard your voice, Takeru." She looked at the girl, who was carefully removing the earmuffs from her head and added, "Since that outfit has Mimi written all over it, I'm guessing this is what you needed help with this morning."

"Yes," Takeru said, smiling a rather strange smile, one Yamato hadn't seen on him, as he looked at the girl. "This is Hana. Hana, this is my brother, Yamato and his girlfriend, Sora."

Hana gave a small shy smile and nodded her head at them. Then she did the oddest thing. She turned to Takeru and pulled on his sleeve and made a strange gesture with her hand, almost like she was writing in the air. Yamato had no idea what she was doing, but apparently Takeru understood it completely as he said, "I'll get you some paper, I promise." Hana nodded, giving a bright smile to Takeru.

Yamato exchanged a glance with Sora and saw that she was equally confused about this behavior. "Takeru, what—" he began to ask, but was stopped when Taichi called loudly from the living, "Why are you taking so long, guys? Bring the kid in here already!"

Yamato rolled his eyes at his best friend as he heard Sora give a long-suffering sigh. Takeru chuckled softly, while Hana glanced around at them looking a little perplexed. "Our leader calls," Yamato said with mild sarcasm.

He turned to lead the way into the living area, but didn't miss that Takeru took Hana's hand before walking behind them. As they came into view of Taichi, his best friend had the oddest reaction when his eyes zeroed in on the girl. He jerked slightly, as if in shock, as his eyes narrowed and he asked, rather harshly, "Who is that?"

Sora went over and swatted his bushy-haired head before she said, "Taichi, don't be rude!"

Taichi rubbed the back of his head and glared at Sora before standing up. He walked over to where they stood, but his eyes didn't make contact, which Yamato found to be extremely odd behavior for their fearless leader. "Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean…it's just that…" He made a sound of disgust, which Yamato thought was more directed at himself than anyone else, which made sense because Taichi was hardly out of words like he seemed to be right now. "Never mind," he finally said, lifting his eyes and raising a hand towards Hana. "I'm Taichi. Sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to be rude."

Hana glanced cautiously at Takeru who nodded at her before she held out her own hand back to Taichi, who gave it a small shake before turning and walking back to his seat on the couch. She looked nervous as she looked back at Takeru who said, "I promise he's harmless. Mostly, anyway."

"I heard that!" Taichi called out indignantly.

Takeru broke into a laugh, which just shattered the tension in the air. Sora was quick to join in, and even Yamato couldn't resist adding a few chuckles of his own. They all sat down together after Takeru's quick request for a piece of paper and a pencil were fulfilled. He introduced them to Hana and then proceeded to tell the story of how he had found her in the Digital World with no memory and an inability to speak. He told them of the visit to the hospital the day before and how they had let him take her back home to look after her while they tried to find out who she was. "We went to Mimi this morning to get her something else to wear, and I decided to come over her on the slim chance that one of you might have seen her somewhere before," Takeru finished.

"Amnesia?" Sora said, and Yamato could hear the concern in her voice. Sora went over to the girl and surrounded her in her arms. "You poor dear," she said, patting Hana's back. Yamato saw Hana wriggle slightly, but didn't see much else until Sora pulled back and asked, "What is it?"

Hana leaned over to the center table where Takeru had placed the pencil and paper and picked up the writing utensil and began to write. She finished and pointed at it, staring up at Sora. Yamato leaned over to see what she had written. _It's okay. I have Takeru now._

Yamato glanced sharply up at his brother, who was smiling at Hana with that same smile he had seen on him earlier and suddenly couldn't stop the smug smile that tugged at his lips as he finally understood. Somehow, his brother, who had never before shown any real interest in any girl before, had inexplicably started to like this girl that he had only just met the previous day.

He exchanged a glance with Sora and saw an understanding smirk on her own face and thought that maybe she had come to the same conclusion as he had. Taichi, on the other hand, was still acting rather odd, almost pointedly ignoring Hana and Takeru, but Yamato caught him giving Hana strange perplexed glances. He was determined to ask him about it as soon as he could.

Sora invited them to stay for dinner, which Takeru agreed to before taking the chance to usher Yamato into the kitchen with her, leaving the other three in the living room. Taichi was still sort of awkwardly not talking, but flipping through some sports magazine, while Takeru and Hana talked, with Hana using the paper and pencil to contribute to the conversation.

"Well, Hana's outfit makes a lot more sense now," Sora said softly once they were in the relative privacy of the kitchen.

Not following where she was going with the conversation, Yamato asked, "What do you mean?"

"Mimi's playing matchmaker, of course," Sora said smiling indulgently at him. "Mimi may love fashion and dressing up, but she wouldn't have put Hana in something like that unless she was trying to make a statement to someone."

"Oh," Yamato said. He thought he might know what she was talking about, but thought he'd be better safe than sorry and let her continue.

"He's smitten with her," Sora whispered to Yamato as they prepared dinner. "At first, I was happy, because you know, it was Takeru and if anyone deserves to be happy, it's him with all the stuff he's been through and still keeping that upbeat attitude of his. But now, I'm not so sure."

"Why not?" Yamato asked. He'd been planning to bring up the subject himself, but he was _really_ happy for his brother. Sora was right in that Takeru deserved to be happy. They'd all been through things that no kids should really have to (having the responsibility of saving the worlds on your shoulders was not really a choice after school activity after all), but Takeru had been kidnapped, had his partner destroyed, been attacked by dark powers, and so many more things. Takeru hadn't told anyone else, but he had confided to Yamato a few months ago that he really _had_ thought that he was probably going to die when Daemon attacked him rather than just being sent to the binary plane. Yamato had just about blown a gasket, but Takeru reminded him that it was long over with and he didn't tell him just for Yamato to get mad at him. Yamato had held his temper, but he would never forget how close he had come to losing his brother forever.

"We don't have any idea who she really is," Sora hissed.

"Well, if she was in the Digital World, she is a Digidestined," Yamato reasoned. "So she can't be that bad, right?"

"I guess," Sora said somewhat defeated. "I just…I _really_ care about Takeru. For all intents and purposes, he's my little brother, too. He's been through so much in his life. I don't want him to get hurt, if it turns out this girl is really some kind of…psycho killer or something," she finished, waving her hands around.

Yamato smiled at her jilted logic. "I don't want Takeru to get hurt either," he said. "But I doubt Hana's a psycho killer, you know."

Sora huffed. "You know what I meant," she said exasperatedly. "She could be anybody."

They finished making dinner, and everyone sat down and began to eat. Taichi was surprisingly and disturbingly quiet the whole meal. Hana was quiet as well, though she had brought her paper to the table to contribute, Yamato had to admit that it must be harder to communicate when all you could do was write. At some points she seemed to write things without really looking, just staring at no place in particular. Sora mothered her the whole of dinner, making sure that she got enough to eat and drink, trying to make her comfortable around the table.

While Sora was busy having a mothering moment, Yamato leaned over to Taichi and asked quietly, "Taichi, what's up with you? You're acting like Hana is made of glass and she'll break if you so much as talk to her."

There was a pause and Yamato wondered for a moment if he was going to answer. But then he finally spoke. "I don't know," he said. "It's just the weirdest thing. At first I couldn't place it, but then I realized why she was giving me this strange feeling. She looks so much like my mom that it's almost freaky. I've seen pictures of my mom when she was younger and she looked _just like her. _And I feel like, because of that, I should know her, you know. But I don't. And it's just the weirdest thing," he repeated giving another wary glance towards the girl.

Yamato looked at Hana again and found himself agreeing with Taichi. Hana _did_ look an awful lot like a younger version of Yuuko Yagami. He found himself puzzling over this, but soon Takeru was saying that he and Hana should get home before it was too late. They were all saying their goodbyes to each other and Yamato didn't have a chance to mention this fact to Takeru before his brother and Hana were out the door and on their way.

Yamato walked back into the table, where Sora was already clearing it off to go wash the dishes with Taichi helping her. His eyes fell on the paper that Hana was writing on and he almost dropped the dishes he was holding when he saw what she had written on one empty space. She had written three names: _Takeru, Taichi, Sora_. Underneath each one, clearly written were the words: _Hope, Courage, Love._

* * *

"Takeru?"

Takeru rose from his sleep as the voice, somehow both unknown and yet so strangely, _heartbreakingly_ familiar, spoke his name. He glanced at the clock on the wall above the television, noting that it hadn't even been an hour since he had fallen asleep in the first place. He sat up and glanced at his bedroom door where Hana was standing in a pair of pink pajamas that had _Princess_ written all over the pants.

"Hana?" he asked, but then his mind finally caught up with him. "You can talk?" She nodded slowly. "How long have you been able to?" he asked her.

"Since just now," she said and there was impatience in her voice. "Listen, Takeru. I don't have a lot of time."

Takeru stood quickly and walked over to where she was. He gripped her arms and asked, almost frightened of the answer, "What do you mean?"

"I have to go back," she said and Takeru finally noticed that barely dried tears that trailed her cheeks.

Seeing that, Takeru didn't even bother to ask where she had to go back to. "You have to stay with me," he said and he could hear the pleading note in his own voice.

"I don't belong here," she said her voice breaking as she started shaking her head. "Maybe I did at one point, I still don't know, but I don't now. Not anymore."

"Hana, what are you talking about?"

Fresh tears trailed her cheeks. "The darkness, Takeru," she said. "I can feel it in me. It's what I am. I have to go back to the Dark World. It's where I belong." Her eyes took a faraway look as she continued, "I can hear them. They are pulling me. They need me."

"I need you," Takeru said, knowing perfectly well how irrational that was to say to a girl that he had only known a couple of days, but also knowing that it was the complete truth.

A beautiful smile graced her face and she reached up to touch his cheek. "No, Takeru," she said. "You don't belong there. You are too full of light." Her other hand came to rest on his chest. "I can see it," she whispered wistfully. "So bright. So full of hope." She sighed. "I will never forget your kindness."

"Hana," he said brokenly. He was so confused. He had no idea what she was talking about. He only knew that he _did not_ want her to leave him and go to the Dark World. She _had_ to stay with him.

"Takeru," she breathed his name. She stood up on tiptoe and placed a soft kiss on his lips, just for a moment. But Takeru was shocked enough that when she pulled out of his arms, they just fell away from her. She turned away from him and, before his eyes and before he could reach out for her again, she turned gray and fuzzy, like an old television set, and vanished.


	12. Darkness

The wisp of a breeze and the soft cresting of waves were the only sounds that Hana could hear as she walked along the deserted beach that bordered the silent forest. The whole world was dulled and gray, fitting for the darkness she could feel inside and around her. The darkness she knew did not belong in his world, no matter how much she had wanted to stay. He had been so nice, so accepting, and somehow just so _familiar_ that she felt she would have been content to remain with him forever, but then she had heard them.

She had been lying in bed, thinking about all of Takeru's friends she had met in the past two days. Jyou, who she had met the previous day, had given her the impression that he was really reliable since she knew he had just dropped everything to come help her. She had really liked Mimi. The girl had been rather chatty (though Hana wondered if that was more because she herself had been so silent), but Hana could feel that she was so sincere in everything she did and said. She had selflessly helped Hana by giving her things away for her to use. She hadn't even caught the boy's name that had been there when she woke up and he had left soon after that. Takeru had seemed agitated before he left, so she wasn't sure how she felt about him.

Then she had met Takeru's brother and his friends. She had liked Yamato, who had been open and friendly enough to her, and Sora, who had rather pleasantly smothered Hana in her loving care and Hana had imagined that would be how a mother would have been like.

But the last one she had met, Taichi, had confused her. She got the impression from the others that it wasn't how he usually acted, but Hana couldn't help by notice the weird glances he kept throwing her. They hadn't been harsh or scathing, but rather more confused and wary, as if he didn't know what to make of her.

As she had been going over these thoughts in her head, she had heard the whisper of something along the tresses of her mind. She had turned to look at the door to see if it had been Takeru, but the door was closed and she was alone in the room. The whisper came again, almost like a soft breeze around her, a shallow chant that she couldn't make out. She wanted to answer, but silence still held her tongue. She didn't know if writing would help, so she answered the only other way she could think of, hoping that whatever it was would be able to hear her. She called back in her mind.

It was then that she felt the first pull.

It was like a cold hand plunging into her chest and trying to drag her to where it was. What alarmed her even more was she felt something in her answer. A darkness that she could not deny was a part of her very being. A darkness that she knew had no place in this world of light.

That led her to the thought that if she was darkness, then she too did not belong in the world of light. Her eyes flew to the door where she knew Takeru was sleeping just beyond. She didn't want to leave him, but the whispers were growing stronger every second. Whispers that were familiar to her. She knew that was where she had come from for the darkness knew it. And she had to go back to where she belonged. She could hear them calling, willing her back to their world…the Dark World, they whispered to her.

She slipped out of the covers of the bed. She had to say good-bye to him. They may have belonged to two different worlds, but he had taken care of her when there was no obligation for him to do so. As she walked to the door, her eyes fell upon the pink device lying on the dresser Takeru had insisted she kept with her. She picked it up, stared at it for a few seconds, and hooked it on. If Takeru thought it was important, she didn't want to leave it behind. It might even be a way for her to remember him, to forever keep a part of him with her.

She opened the door and opened her mouth to call his name before she remembered she couldn't speak. Then she thought she must have been able to speak at some point. She couldn't remember it, but she could try. She concentrated all her might on saying his name and opened her mouth and a rush of happiness went through her as she spoke his name.

Takeru hadn't wanted her to go, and she had expected that. But she knew she had to leave. The ones who whispered had told her that they needed her. As she felt herself slipping away, she could suddenly see the brightness within him. She thought of the word she had written under his name. Hope. It suited him. His eyes were staring down at her, imploring her to stay with him, but she didn't. She wasn't sure what made her kiss him, perhaps it was to give him something to remember her, perhaps it was the deep desire for her to stay with him, or perhaps it was the irrational feeling that it wasn't the first time they had done so.

But she had turned away then, slipping from his arms, standing in his room one minute and finding herself on a dull gray beach the next.

She had seen a building in the distance, and having not seen anything else but the forest and the water on either side of her, started walking towards it. The sand pressed in between her toes, her feet bare since she had not put anything on them before letting herself be drawn here. The building loomed ever closer becoming clearer to see and as she got closer she found it was a sort of castle-like structure. It took her a few more minutes to reach it and the doors hissed open as she approached.

Creatures that looked like they were made of shadows trickled out, chanting something that sounded like "light". She could feel the darkness resonate in her with them and knew it was these that called to her and pulled her here. "I am Hana," she told them. "I'm here to help you."

They paused their chanting and crowded around her. A few grasped her arms and there was just the briefest moment of ice-fire pain before she could feel their darkness press into her and search her mind.

"Queen…Hana," they intoned. "Welcome home…"

"…queen?" she repeated after a brief pause. "I'm your queen?"

"Yes…you've lost your memories," they said. "You are our Queen Hana…"

She swallows the sudden lump in her throat. Something deep inside her, a spark of something she didn't quite recognize, revolted against these creatures, but it was so weak that she could push it away. These creatures were her people. She was their queen. She was where she belonged now.

"Take me to my room," she instructed them. They slithered off and she followed them through the maze of the castle. They opened a door to a room and she looked around, hoping to see something familiar, something that would bring her back the memories that she had lost. But there was nothing in the room that jogged anything for her. "Thank you," she said to the creatures. "I think I will sleep now."

"As you wish, Queen Hana…"

The creatures left her in her room and she slipped beneath the blankets on the bed. As she tried to drift off to sleep, she wondered how something could feel right, but so very wrong all at the same time.

* * *

Takeru didn't know how long he stared at the spot where Hana had stood, his mind reaching for an explanation of what had just occurred. There was no way that Koushiro could have been right (though Takeru was well aware that he often was). There was no way that Hana truly belonged in the Dark World. She had been too kind, too lovely, and just too special to be a part of darkness. All his knowledge of darkness could not mold Hana into the same class as all the other evil and dark creatures they had fought over the years.

He went back to the couch, despite the fact that Hana was no longer in his bed and there was no real reason for him not to go back to sleep in it. He wrapped himself in his blankets and told himself that there was nothing he could do. He tried to rationalize that it was the middle of the night and he would do well to get his sleep so that he could try to rescue her tomorrow (though he had no real idea of how exactly he was going to get to the Dark World). But hours later, his mind was still racing, even though his body ached with fatigue and his eyes burned to be shut.

He glanced at the clock again and found it to be the eve of the morning. The sun wouldn't rise for hours since it was winter, but the night was still waning. Giving up on sleep completely, he threw his blankets off and slipped into his room, hoping to find some clue, some indication, _anything_ that might help him get Hana back.

Suddenly, his eyes fell upon a photo album up on his shelf, one that he hadn't looked at in weeks. He wasn't sure what was driving him to do it, but he lifted a hand to pull the album off the shelf. He stared at the cover for a few seconds, wondering what he was doing, knowing it was hardly the time to take a waltz down memory lane, but something was nagging at him. Something that told him he would somehow find his answers in this very volume.

He moved to the bed and sat down on it, still staring at the closed album. He opened it and found what he knew he would on the first few pages. Pictures of him and Yamato, back when they were younger, back when their whole family had still been together. He flipped a few more pages and stopped when he came upon the group picture the Digidestined had taken, just after their return from Digital World that first time. Andromon had taken one before they left, but none of them had copies of it, so they had decided to take another one once they got back, before they all went their separate ways. His eyes trailed along the faces of his friends, all so young then.

His heart stopped as his eyes fell upon one certain individual. In the moonlight, he couldn't make it out very well, but there was an eighth child there, eight when there should have only been seven. He quickly turned to his lamp and flicked it on before returning to study the picture. There stood a girl, a child his age in a yellow shirt and pink shorts with a whistle around her neck. A girl with short brown hair and warm cinnamon eyes standing in front of Taichi and right beside himself as he stood in front of Yamato with a bright smile on her face.

His heart began to pound. It wasn't possible. It simply _wasn't_ possible. But there it was, plain and simple, a girl that looked just like a younger version of Hana.

Frantically, he searched the rest of the album. She didn't show up again until the time of the pictures with the second group of Digidestined. She was older and had traded the whistle for a camera, but there she was. Once again, right beside him, smiling that same bright smile. She was in almost every picture with those of that group, eating ice cream with Miyako, at one of Daisuke's soccer games, and in Hong Kong with Koushiro. He remembered the world tour. He had gone to France with Taichi. They had split up that way for a reason; one D-3 and one Digivice, so that each group would have someone who could close the gate. Koushiro had gone to Hong Kong. He had to have taken someone with a D-3 with him, but there was no one else, he couldn't remember anyone else, but here she was. Hana, the mysterious girl with the pink D-3, here in the picture.

Fighting down the panic threatening to choke him, he turned the page again and found another picture, this one of Hana and Taichi. Taichi's arm was draped protectively over Hana's shoulders and now that he stared at them, side by side, there was a certain resemblance…something that made him wonder.

He hit the pages of his years in France and he passed by those quickly and finally got to the time of the past few months. Almost every picture had him and Hana together at various places. Sometimes others of their group were there, but they were most often just by themselves.

He finally reached the last picture, one that could have been taken just last week; it was so recent and new. Someone else must have captured it, a sort of candid way. It was him and Hana staring at each other and Takeru could recognize that there was nothing but love in their eyes as they looked at each other.

He spotted writing below it, handwriting he instantly recognized as Hana's, having seen it so often the last two days, but he knew she couldn't have written it in that time. The album hadn't been disturbed in weeks, he could tell by the fine layer of dust that had settled over it. But there below the picture, clearly written in Hana's neat handwriting were the words: _Hope and Light forever. Together we can do anything. I love you, Takeru._

It didn't make sense. There was only one possible explanation. He didn't know how it could be true, but it was the only one that was viable.

He knew Hana.

He _loved_ Hana.

A wave of dizziness came crashing down on him, but he fought to stay above it. He finally recognized it for what it was. The dizziness hadn't been caused by his illness at all. This was the powers of darkness attacking him, willing him to not get closer to the truth. He tried to reach back along it, so that he could access his powers like he had in France so long ago, but found no connection there. Whoever or whatever had left this trace of darkness within his mind had left no connection back.

He fought off the feeling and, holding the album tight in his grasp, tumbled out of his room and back into the living room where he knew his D-3 lay on the table. The only hope he had now was to hold on long enough to get to the Digital World where he could access his shield which might be able to eradicate the lingering darkness from his mind.

He grasped the D-3, using all his strength to hold onto his discoveries and hazily made his way to the computer. It took a few seconds to bring up the Digital World and pick a random portal, but he held up his D-3 and fought out the words, "Digi-port open!"

He wanted to relax in relief when he felt himself drawn into the other world, but didn't allow himself the luxury of it. He had to hold on long enough to reach his powers. As he felt himself land, sprawled out on the ground, he didn't even bother to stand up and waste those precious seconds that would give the darkness another chance to win. He reached into himself, where his latent powers lay and willed with all his might for the darkness to be destroyed. Golden warmth raced through him, shattering the darkness and bringing back a rush of memories. He shakily got to his feet as the realization hit.

He did know her.

He did love her.

Hikari.

Memories of the pictures crashed through his mind, but even more followed. A pretty girl, standing defiant against Myotismon. Her pale face as she fought an illness while her brother was away. Refusing to let go of his hand as Piedmon got ever closer. Seeing her smiling face as he walked into a new classroom. Finding their Digi-Eggs side by side. Going to visit Mimi in New York and inexplicably finding trouble even there. Her tears as he left her to go to the airport. His wonderment at her acceptance and forgiveness when he returned from France. A dismal forest where he told her for the first time that he loved her. And finally, the wonderful months since the summer, the time they had spent together, finally where they belonged.

The album slipped from his fingers as he recalled her first disappearance, right from beneath his fingers, just before he got sick. He should have questioned it. He should have realized that something was wrong so much sooner. He looked down at the album and saw that it had fallen on that final page of him and Hikari. He now remembered where and when it was taken. Miyako had taken it, during one of their Digidestined reunions, just last month. He remembered how Miyako had been delighted to catch them like that, how he had been playfully indignant, how Hikari had laughed at them both.

"Hikari," he breathed, falling to his knees and his hand coming to grip his now aching chest. His other hand trailed a finger down her face in the picture as he suppressed a barely cry of despair. He didn't know how he could have let her be taken. "I will get you back, Hikari. Nothing will stop me from getting you back."


	13. Desperation

Hana stepped through the dark hallways of the castle…her castle, she guessed as she was queen of this world. She hadn't slept long, despite how exhausted she had been. Even knowing that she had been in _her_ room, it hadn't been as comfortable as that one night sleeping in his room. She had found the closet and drawers full of clothes that had fit her perfectly, further proof that the things in this room did indeed belong to her. After getting dressed, she went in search of something…anything that would bring anything in her memory back.

She stopped when she found herself in a circular room with a bowl on a pedestal in the center of it. A chill ran down her back as she looked around; she got the feeling that something terrible had happened in this room. She stood there frozen for a few minutes, unsure of what she should do or where she should go. She gasped and jumped in shock when a door opened. One of the dark creatures slithered into the room. "How may I serve you, Queen Hana?" it intoned to her.

"I was just looking around," Hana said hesitantly. She glanced around the room again. "What was this place used for?"

"Come." It beckoned her as it slide over to the pedestal. Hana cautiously walked over to it and wondered if she would ever feel at ease in the creatures' presence. It waved a hand over the bowl, which Hana could see was full of murky water now that she was close enough. "Our previous Master used it to view the world beyond. If you used the darkness in you, you could do that same..."

It was strange to her how they always trailed off their sentences, as if they were going to say more but never did. She took another intrigued look at the bowl. The idea that she could see other worlds, perhaps even look in on Takeru sometimes, was an interesting, perhaps even a promising, idea to her, but then she stopped that thought before it could truly form. She was better off not dwelling on what she couldn't have or where she couldn't be.

She jumped again as the doors opened once more and more creatures slinked into the room. "Queen Hana…" one chanted. "Now that you are awake, you should bring your partner here…"

"My…partner?" she asked, glancing around at them. "What do you mean?"

"A Digimon from the Digital World…"

"She belongs to you…"

"A Digimon?" she repeated. "Like Takeru's Angemon, you mean?" Takeru found her in the Digital World, as he called it. She had no idea what or where it was or how she had gotten there, as she could only assume since _this_ was the world she belonged to, she had somehow left the Dark World and entered the Digital World. She wondered if it was really possible that she could have a partner like they said. It would certainly be nice to have someone to protect her and trust her as much as Angemon seemed to do with Takeru. "How do I find her?"

"Her name is Gatomon…"

"Look into the water…"

"Call to her…"

Her eyes fell upon the bowl of water. She delved into herself and called upon the darkness that ran so deep through her. She reached out like they told her and willed to see the Digimon that she was seeking. An image emerged across the surface of the water. The scene was of a forest that could be on any world, but two beings sat together in the glade. The smaller of the two was a white cat creature with purple tipped ears and wide blue eyes. Her front paws were covered in what looked like yellow and orange clawed gloves. Her tail was of curling white and purple with a gold ring resting at the end. Something inside her clenched when she saw her. Perhaps this was her partner, perhaps something deep down recognized that they should be together; she didn't quite know.

She looked at the other being, who looked like a small man in a yellow and red outfit covered by a purple cape completed by a pointed purple hat with the image of a skull on the top of his head. Something in her pained when she saw him. "Who are they?" she asked.

"The white one is Gatomon…"

"The other means nothing…"

If the cat was Gatomon, her partner, that would explain her reaction to her when she saw her; the deep feeling of knowing they should be together. But somehow, she didn't quite believe that the other being meant nothing. Something pained in her when she first saw him, something that she knew she shouldn't ignore. But she didn't know what else she could do. She wasn't sure how she had gotten to the Digital World in the first place, so she couldn't just go out and ask them for answers. One could draw things into this world, as the creatures had brought her, but to draw in her partner was one thing. To pull in an innocent bystander, with no knowledge of how to get them back, was something else all together. She couldn't do that to someone.

She looked away from the image to the dark creatures. "How do I bring her here?" she asked them.

In answer, two of them grabbed her arms. She once again felt a moment of ice-fire pain before she felt their darkness press in on her. She could feel them feeding on the dark power in her. Her gaze fixed on the image of the two Digimon in the water. Gatomon flickered into grayness before vanishing. She could hear the other cry out in alarm before the picture faded away. An instant later, Gatomon appeared in the room, just a few feet away from where Hana stood.

Gatomon glanced around. "Wizardmon?" she called out. When she saw them, she asked, "Who are you?"

Hana stepped forward as the dark creatures let their grasp fall away. "I am Queen Hana," she said to her.

"You're that Digidestined girl we saw a couple of days ago," Gatomon said. Her eyes narrowed and flashed with suspicion. "What do you want with me?"

"They tell me you're my partner," Hana said. "I thought that perhaps…you might have known me."

"Hardly," Gatomon said her tone harsh with contempt. "I'm not one of those Digimon, bound to some human. You must have the wrong one. I'd appreciate it if you send me back."

Hana bit her lip. She had thought that, if it was true Gatomon was her partner, the Digimon might have known who she was when no one else had. She hadn't expected for her to have no idea who she was. She opened her mouth to say that she did not know how to send Gatomon back when one of her dark creatures slide over to Gatomon and placed a hand on her head.

Gatomon hissed, but stood transfixed for the few seconds the dark creature stood there. It stepped away and when Gatomon looked at Hana again, her gaze had turned horrified and shocked. "Oh, light," she said. "What have they done to you? We have to get away from here! Where's Takeru?"

Hana was about to ask how Gatomon knew Takeru and why she wanted to get away from the Dark World, but the dark creatures pulled her forward and gathered around the cat Digimon. They grasped both her and Gatomon. She could feel them draining her darkness again and could feel it entering Gatomon. Slowly, Gatomon's white fur melded into black and her bright blue eyes shifted to an ominous yellow. The clawed gloves on her hands became blue and red striped. The gold of her tail ring darkened and dulled, not longer bright and shiny as it was moments ago.

"Digivolve…" the creatures chanted over and over, but Hana didn't know how to get her partner to Digivolve. She had seen it once when Takeru had changed Angemon to Pegasusmon; he had called something out that she couldn't quite remember. She didn't know if there was something she had to call out. She did the only thing she could think of to do and desperately willed her partner to Digivolve. She saw a black glow coming from her waist and looked down to the see the D-3 she hadn't wanted to leave giving it off. Darkness started to roll off in waves from her and went over to Gatomon. There was a purplish glow around her as her Digimon grew. She was a tall human-like creature with long white hair and red eyes wearing a tight black outfit with black wings sprouting from her back for the briefest of moments before the purplish glow covered her again.

She didn't grow again, but when the glow faded, she was no longer as she was before. Where Gatomon had been, there stood a tall beautiful woman with black hair and a golden headdress. Her outfit was still black and skin-tight, but a long purple robe with long hanging sleeves wrapped around the lower part of her body. Two sets of black wings sprung from her back. Hana looked at her in wonder. "You're a Digimon?" she asked. "Gatomon?"

"I am Lilithmon now," she said. There was a sadness in her eyes as she looked down at Hana. "If this is what you have chosen…" She trailed off and didn't finish.

Hana wanted to ask her more, but the creatures were pulling at her. "Queen Hana…come this way…"

She followed them with Lilithmon close behind. They led her to a room that could only be called a throne room as the room was large and expansive and a huge gold and black chair rested on the far end. She walked over to it and trailed a hand over one arm. Lilithmon came to stand at the side of the throne. Hana looked around her at the dark creatures assembled, chanting her name.

She sat down on the throne. As she did so, her mind flashed back to the face of a blue-eyed boy who had been kind to her. Suddenly, tears threatened to fall and she choked them back. Her life was here. It was where she belonged.

* * *

When the pounding on the door jolted Taichi awake, he took one groggy look at the time, noted that the sun hadn't even come up yet, and got ready to deck whoever dared to disturb him at this godforsaken hour. Muttering under his breath, he dragged his feet over to the door and opened it just in time to see Yamato pulling open the front door. He was surprised to see who was standing there.

"Takeru?" Yamato exclaimed in shock. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"No," Takeru replied panting slightly, and Taichi wondered if he had run the whole way to their apartment. "I have to see—Taichi!" he finished in exclamation as his eyes moved passed Yamato and landed on Taichi standing in his bedroom doorway. In a rather uncharacteristic move, Takeru pushed past his brother and raced to Taichi, where he grabbed him by the shirt and said, "Taichi, you have to help me. We have to save her!"

Taichi gripped Takeru's hands and disentangled himself from Takeru's tight grip. "Calm down, Takeru," he said, shooting a glance to Yamato whom he could tell was just as shocked by this behavior. Taichi couldn't remember _ever_ seeing Takeru this agitated before. "Who do we have to save? Hana?"

"No!" Takeru exclaimed with vehemence, but then he hesitated and said, "Well, yes, but she isn't Hana. She's your sister, Taichi."

There was a brief pause in which Taichi processed this before he stated flatly, "I don't have a sister."

"Yes, you do," Takeru insisted. "Only you don't remember her. Well, you do, only you know her as Hana, but her real name is Hikari. She's a Digidestined and her partner is Gatomon."

"Gatomon?" Yamato jumped in, interrupting. "That cat-like Digimon who worked for Myotismon?"

"Yes," Takeru said. "She has the Crest of Light. She's lovely and wonderful and kind and I'm completely in love with her. She's been taken to the Dark World again and I intend to do everything I can to get her back."

Silence fell around them after Takeru's pronouncements. Taichi blinked at him. He seemed so sure and determined that Taichi _almost_ believed him. Something started nagging at him that Takeru wouldn't say this if it wasn't true, but he pushed it away. It just _couldn't_ be true, so he blurted, "You're crazy. I don't _have_ a sister."

"Taichi." When Yamato said his name, Taichi could tell from the tone of his voice that he wanted to believe. Then again, when it came to Takeru, Taichi knew Yamato could be a little obtuse. "Didn't you say Hana looked like your mom?"

"Well, yeah," Taichi said. "But just because she looks like her doesn't mean we have to be related." He paused as he remembered how freaked out he had been when he saw the girl. It was _really_ weird how much she had looked like his mom. It couldn't be true. But a tiny voice in his head was prodding him, telling him, asking him if there was the possibility that it could be true.

"I knew I should have brought the photo album," Takeru muttered. "But I was so worried, and I had to reach you. I had to get here." He looked straight into Taichi's eyes as he said firmly, "We have to save her, Taichi. She's been changed somehow; she thinks she's full of darkness now. She doesn't even believe that she belongs in our world anymore. She said she had to go to the Dark World because it _was_ her world." His voice became lined with frustration as he continued, "I can't believe I let them take her! I'm her shield, her protector. I'm supposed to stop these things from happening to her." His eyes cast about wildly in thought. "I have to go to the beach."

He turned toward leave, but Yamato stood in front of him before he could make it more than a few feet. "You're not going anywhere," Yamato said. "Not until we get this straightened out. Please wait here for just a minute." Yamato walked out of the room, back into his bedroom. He came back out seconds later, holding a piece of paper in his hand. He handed it out to Takeru as he said, "I was going to ask you about this later, but now seems like a good a time as any."

Takeru's eyes lit up as he looked at the paper. "She remembers us," he said softly. "Some part of her must still be in there."

"What are you talking about?" Taichi asked.

Takeru thrust the paper at him. "This is the paper Hikari wrote on today," he explained. "Look at the bottom."

Taichi did as he asked. Shock coursed through his body as he saw his own name alongside Takeru's and Sora's with the names of their Crests right underneath them. Hana…Hikari, whoever she was, had written this. "It…could be a…coincidence," Taichi said slowly and brokenly, but he didn't even really believe that himself.

"Do you have a picture of the Digidestined?" Takeru asked.

Taichi looked up sharply at him at the abrupt change of subject. "Sure," he said. "There's one sitting by the TV. Sora put it there."

Takeru immediately walked over to the television and grasped one of the picture frames sitting beside it. There was a triumphant smile on his face as he returned to them. He held up the picture to Taichi with one hand as he pointed to one of the people in the picture. "Then how do you explain this?" he asked.

Taichi looked at the picture and his blood chilled as he got a look at the person he was pointing at. He heard Yamato's sharp intake of breath as he came to stand beside Taichi and look at the picture himself.

There was no way Taichi could brush this off as coincidence or anything else. He remembered this picture. They had taken barely a week after the battle with Daemon this past summer. And there, standing right between Takeru and himself, was the very same girl that had been at his apartment this very afternoon. A girl his mind told him he hadn't met until today, but the picture told him otherwise as he stood there beside her, a hand resting comfortably and maybe a little protectively on her shoulder. Her hand was intertwined with Takeru's in the picture and he looked up at Takeru as he suddenly remembered something Takeru just told him.

…_I'm completely in love with her…_

His mind trailed back to last week, as he remembered Takeru laying in a hospital bed and his own musings that he wished he had a sibling of his own. To the time the thought crossed his mind that if he had a sister, he wouldn't mind if she dated Takeru. To the time when he thought having a sister might not be so bad. Perhaps Takeru was right. Perhaps what he was saying was true. Perhaps Hikari was his sister.

A wave of dizziness flowed over him. He suddenly felt Takeru's grip on his arm and his words penetrate the fog in his mind. "It's the dizziness, isn't it?" he asked urgently. "You have to fight it, Taichi. It's the darkness. It's trying to get you to not remember. Where are your Digivices? We have to get to the Digital World. I can help you, but we have to get there before I can do anything."

Taichi did as Takeru instructed and fought off the dizziness. "It's in my room," he said through clenched teeth.

"Yamato, you have to come too," Takeru said as he pulled on Taichi's arm and pulled him into the room. He was vaguely aware of hearing Yamato walk away. "Fight it, Taichi!" Takeru encouraged as he thrust Taichi's Digivice into his hand. He then turned to the computer and pulled up the Digital World. Yamato came in a few seconds later. The three of them held out their Digivices as Takeru said, "Digi-port open!"

Taichi felt himself spiraling into the Digital World, still fighting off the dizziness the best he could. As the landed in the Digital World, he felt Takeru's hand on his shoulder. A golden warmth filled him as the dizziness was banished away and his memories of Hikari returned to him. He was only mildly aware that Takeru turned away from him to Yamato to place a hand on his brother's shoulder. He couldn't believe he had forgotten his own sister. But she was in his mind now, filling his memories with her light smile and loving gazes.

His eyes locked onto Takeru's. There was a haunted smile on the kid's face, like he was happy that Taichi remembered now, but he was still worried about Hikari. "She's in the Dark World?" he asked him, as a panic started to settle in him. He had never been to that world himself, but he had heard enough about it to know that it was probably the very last place he wanted Hikari to be. It was because of that world that she and Takeru almost died, an experience Taichi had never wanted to happen again.

Takeru nodded as his smile fell completely from his face, but his eyes flashed with determination. "I'm going to bring her back. No matter what it takes."

Taichi looked at Yamato and found his best friend gazing back at him. Yamato walked over and gripped his shoulder and then did the same to Takeru. "We'll get her back," Yamato said to both of them.

* * *

Takeru told Taichi and Yamato what he knew of the situation. Taichi was extremely upset and kept clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, which Takeru could understand since he mirrored that very same feeling, while Yamato kept glancing between the two of them warily, almost as if he was expecting one of them to explode any second. Just as he finished telling them about Hikari's disappearance the previous night, he heard someone call out, "Takeru!"

He ghosted a smile at his partner as Pegasusmon flew down from the sky. Before he had left the Digital World to go get Taichi and Yamato, he had found his Digimon and used his shield on him as well to get his partner to remember everything. He told Pegasusmon to find Gatomon, since he thought that they could probably use Hikari's partner to help. But his smile faded a little as he saw the Digimon on his partner's back wasn't Gatomon, but Wizardmon.

Pegasusmon landed and changed back into Patamon after Wizardmon jumped off. "I'm sorry, Takeru," Patamon said as he landed on Takeru's head.

He was about to ask Patamon what he meant, when Wizardmon spoke, "Hello, Digidestined. This one told me that you had information about Gatomon."

"Wizardmon," Takeru said a chill of dread icing through him. "What happened to Gatomon?"

"She disappeared," Wizardmon said. "We were standing in the forest together. She turned gray and fuzzy for just a moment before she disappeared. I searched for her, before this one found me and asked me about her. When I told him what happened to her, he said his Digidestined partner knew something and asked me to accompany him. What do you know of Gatomon?"

"They must have taken her," Takeru said softly. He supposed it made sense. Having a powerful Digimon like Gatomon on your side would certainly make it harder for someone to take Hikari back. He looked at Taichi and Yamato. "They know we'll come to get her."

"That doesn't matter," Taichi said. "We're going to get her, whether they know it or not."

Takeru nodded in agreement. He turned back to Wizardmon. "There's something I can do to help you," he said to him. He reached out a hand and asked, "May I?"

Wizardmon glared at him for a few seconds and then at his hand. "Will it help Gatomon?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yes."

Wizardmon placed his hand on Takeru's hand and Takeru called up his powers to erase the darkness from Wizardmon's memory. Wizardmon's eyes widened in clarity as he stared up at Takeru. Takeru gave him a small smile. "Remember me now?" he asked.

"Yes," Wizardmon said. "What happened to Gatomon and Hikari?"

"They were taken by dark creatures into the Dark World," Takeru explained. "We're going to get them back." An idea struck him. "Wizardmon, can you find the rest of our partners?"

"Most certainly," Wizardmon said. "I will do anything to help Gatomon."

Takeru glanced back at Yamato and Taichi. "Start with Agumon and Gabumon. Tell them to come here as quickly as possible." As Wizardmon flew off, Takeru turned to Taichi and Yamato. "You should wait here for them."

Yamato looked at him suspiciously. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

"We have to tell the others," Takeru explained. "I'll take Patamon back with me and start calling people. We can't do anything until we have our Digimon."

"Takeru, it's not even morning yet," Yamato explained calmly. He held up his finger as both Taichi and Takeru opened their mouths to say something. "Let me finish," he said. "These dark creatures aren't going to harm Hikari, right? They think she's their queen or something. For now, I think Hikari will be relatively safe. I know how much you want to rescue her, but we should let everyone sleep, not to mention we would do well to get a few more hours of sleep ourselves." His gaze turned sharp as it bore into Takeru. "How much did you sleep tonight?"

"I haven't slept at all," Takeru admitted quietly.

Yamato's eyes flashed with anger, but he didn't comment. Instead, he turned to Taichi and said, "Do you want to deal with Sora when she hears that we didn't sleep? Need I remind you what happened last time?"

Takeru looked between the two of them confused as Taichi's face paled just slightly at Yamato's words. Taichi turned to Takeru and said, "Yamato's right. I want to find Hikari just as much as you do, but we can't launch a battle if we're dead on our feet." He gripped Takeru's shoulder. "Go back to our apartment and get to sleep. Don't do anything rash."

Takeru nodded, understanding the wisdom of their words, but not really liking it. He could tell that Taichi didn't like it either, but a part of what made him such a great leader was that he listened to the advice of others. He could see the whole picture, especially if someone pushed past his sometimes single-mindedness to remind him of it. He left the two boys to wait for their Digimon and headed back through the portal to the apartment.

He tossed and turned on the couch for about an hour, just until the sun started to rise over the horizon. Taichi and Yamato hadn't returned yet; Agumon and Gabumon must have been rather far away. He couldn't sleep, not knowing Hikari was still out there. He threw off the blanket and went to the door to put on his shoes.

"What are you doing, Takeru?" Patamon asked as he flew over.

Takeru looked at his partner. "I'm going to see if I can open the portal to the Dark World," he said. His shoulders hung. "I have to try, Patamon. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Patamon said. He landed on Takeru's head. "But I'm going with you."

The crisp early morning air bit into Takeru's skin as they walked to the beach. Once they reached the cliff that Takeru had used over six years ago to open a portal, they stopped. Takeru thought back to that time, back when he was so desperate to find her, even though no one believed him that he would find her here. He didn't even think Gatomon believed him, though she had gone along. Patamon had, but he was always so eager to believe him.

He couldn't access his powers here. The only way the portal would open was if Hikari reached out to him, creating a connection where he could find his powers. But, after all they'd been through, they were tied more deeply than anyone could imagine, Takeru was sure of it. Hikari would hear him. He had to believe that.

He called out to her, yelling her name out to the empty shores. The sun was steadily rising up, almost completely visible, until finally he felt the connection; the pull that he'd come to recognize as the portal opening. Whether she heard him or whether she reached out to him of her own accord, Takeru didn't know, but he wasn't going to miss this chance. When the black hole in the sky opened up, despite Taichi's words not to do anything rash, Takeru got ready to jump through.

"Takeru, stop!"

He turned briefly and saw that Yamato and Taichi were running towards him, with Agumon and Gabumon just behind them. He looked back at the portal, which was flickering threateningly. It wasn't going to be there long, the connection was weak. Dread filled him of what that could mean. He turned back around to the men and their Digimon, who were close, but not close enough. "I have to go," he called to them quickly, with desperation. "Please understand. I can't leave her. Not there."

Before they could reach him, he turned around and took a running jump off the cliff towards the portal. He heard them calling his name and Patamon's quick words of "Takeru, wait for me!" before the world he knew disappeared.


	14. Queen

Lilithmon sneered in disgust as a group of Vilemon flew by. The dark shadow creatures had been feeding on Hikari's powers to drag Dark Digimon here from the Digital World in the first few hours after she came. They had only just stopped a short while ago to let Hikari rest and regain her strength. The dark creatures were telling Hikari that they were only bringing her people home, but Lilithmon knew better. Soon, they would start again, bringing even stronger Dark Digimon into their leagues. She was torn between trying to stop them and letting it happen. Even if she started destroying them, there was no way for her to get Hikari home, not that she was sure she could convince Hikari to go with her. She knew that it required the combined powers of Hikari and Takeru to open the portal home (pending unusual circumstances, like the time she first became Silphymon with Aquilamon). So, unless something extraordinary wound up happening, without Takeru she and Hikari were stuck.

She had gone to Hikari soon after they finished with her and pleaded her to bring Takeru here, but Hikari seemed reluctant, saying she could not bring him here when she could not send him back. Lilithmon told her Takeru had a way to get home, but she was unsure if she convinced Hikari.

Two Devidramon walked by and Lilithmon had to clench her fist to stop herself from destroying them with just the touch of her **Nazar Nail**. She had to stick to her plan of convincing Hikari to bring Takeru here. There was, after all, no guarantee that she wouldn't run out of energy before she ruined them all. It was the biggest disadvantage of being helped along the Digivolution route by a Digidestined rather than gaining the forms over time and gathering the necessary data alone. She was managing to stay in this Mega form for now, but there was no real way of telling how long it would last if she started decimating the place, especially since, Mega or not, her attacks were bound to be less effective than when she had been Angewomon or Ophanimon.

She entered the throne room, her final destination, where just inside the door were the two DarkTyrannomon, the last of the Digimon the dark creatures pulled here before letting Hikari rest, stood guard and grunted slightly before letting her pass. All these Dark Digimon around her were bringing memories back of days she really thought were better off staying forgotten. She gritted her teeth as she stormed pass them to the throne. Plan or not, if she got one hint of a Myotismon or even a DemiDevimon (the annoying little prat), she would obliterate them before they could so much as blink.

Hikari was resting on the throne, her face deceptively serene as she watched Lilithmon approach. Lilithmon still had not gotten the full story of why Hikari's memories were gone or why she called herself Hana, but something terrible must have happened in the short time the darkness had obscured her own memories of her partner. She could truly feel the darkness in Hikari and in herself now. The same darkness that had caused herself to Dark Digivolve into this form. But Lilithmon thought there was still reason to hope. Despite the darkness in them, Lilithmon did not feel any evil or violent tendencies (apart from the quick desires to blast any Dark Digimon she passed, but she rather didn't think that counted; indeed, she was counting that as a good thing) nor did Hikari seem to be evil at all. Other than the darkness the permeated her, Hikari did not seem to have changed much at all. This gave Lilithmon hope that, even after everything, they were still mostly themselves.

Hikari offered up a small smile as Lillithmon walked up to her. "I did as you suggested," Hikari said. "I reached out to him. It was difficult to get the connection, but the portal was opened, I'm sure of it."

Lilithmon brightened considerably. If this was true, her plan would come about so much sooner than she expected, before more powerful Dark Digimon arrived and gained the chance to stop them. "Takeru's here?" she asked a little breathless with excitement and the anticipation of soon being able to leave this place.

Hikari gave a small noncommittal shrug, but there was a small light in her eyes, just the faintest spark of hope. "The portal opened. It would have been his choice to come through." She frowned. "But the connection was poor. I'm not sure where he would have ended up. I'd like you to go look for him."

Lilithmon hesitated for half a second. She didn't like the idea of leaving Hikari here without her protection, but on the other hand, she would like a moment to talk to Takeru alone to tell him of her plan. She knew that the dark creatures revered their new queen and would not necessarily let any harm come to her. Deciding in the necessity of the plan, the ultimate goal of getting Hikari away from this place, she said, "Of course. I will bring him here at once."

"He might not have come," Hikari said softly and uncertainly.

Lilithmon placed a hand on Hikari's shoulder. "Trust me. He came," she said with absolute conviction. Lilithmon knew that Takeru could be as reckless as anyone when it came to Hikari being in danger. There was not a single possibility that he would leave her here in the Dark World when he had the chance to rescue her.

"I would like to see him again," Hikari said even more quietly. "Even if it is one last time." She paused. "You're sure he can get home?"

"Yes," Lilithmon said. "He's done it before, I assure you." Hikari looked a little more reassured as Lilithmon went back out to find their friend. Lilithmon was overjoyed with the prospect that they would not be in this world much longer. Takeru, with Hikari's help, would open the portal to take them all home.

* * *

The first thing that could be heard after the portal winked out was Patamon bursting into tears. The second was Taichi yelling, "I can't _believe_ he did that! After I _told_ him not to do anything reckless!"

"He's gone!" Patamon wailed. "I'm not there to protect him!"

Yamato, on the other hand, just stared at the place where Takeru had been. If he admitted it to himself, it wasn't like he hadn't been expecting it from the moment their memories returned. It was really his own fault that he let Takeru leave his sight in the first place. He should have known…he should have remembered the lengths to which Takeru would go to protect those he cared about.

"What going on, Yamato? Where has Takeru gone?" Gabumon asked, breaking Yamato out of his musings. Agumon was asking much the same questions to Taichi, but Taichi was still too busy pacing and muttering to himself under his breath to answer. Patamon had landed on the ground, but he was still sniffing loudly as his wings hung dejected around him.

"He's gone to the Dark World to rescue Hikari," Yamato said looking down at his partner.

"Rescue who?" Gabumon asked.

And Yamato realized their other problem with Takeru leaving them. Without his shield and ability to push away the darkness covering their memories, they had no way to convince any of the other Digidestined and their Digimon that Hikari was who they said she was. He looked up at Taichi and found his friend had stopped pacing and was looking at him as well. Yamato could tell he had come to the same conclusion.

"What are we going to do?" Taichi asked, his voice edged in slight panic. "Even if we try to tell them about her, the darkness won't let them remember."

"Then we don't tell them," Yamato said just as the thought occurred to him. It was really the option that Yamato could see. If the darkness wouldn't let their friends remember Hikari than there was no point in trying to tell them about her.

"What?" Taichi exclaimed.

"Tell us what, Taichi?" Agumon asked, tugging slightly on Taichi's scarf.

Taichi glanced down at his partner, and Yamato could see the battle the raged across his features. His head hung in defeat as he said softly, without much force, "We have to tell them."

Yamato hated seeing that look on his best friend's face. "As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think there's anything we can really do," Yamato said deeply chagrined. Sometimes he _really_ wished his brother wasn't so self-sacrificing all the time. He really admired that quality of Takeru, the one that made him put others before him, but sometimes it caused so many problems. "We've just lost our ticket to the Dark World," he added, throwing his thumb out to where Takeru had disappeared.

"But—what about Hikari? What about Takeru? Aren't you worried about him? He doesn't even have Patamon with him," Taichi threw at him, pointing to where Patamon was still lying dejected on the cliff edge.

Yamato, affronted that Taichi would even suggest that he wasn't worried about his brother, opened his mouth to reply, but Gabumon beat him to it. "Don't say that, Taichi. Of course he's worried about him."

Yamato placed an affectionate hand on his Digimon's head. "Thanks, Gabumon," he said, giving his partner a small smile before he looked back at Taichi with grave seriousness on his features. "He's right. I am worried, and I know you're worried about her, but I don't think we can't help them," Yamato said.

"I can't do nothing. Not again." Taichi's eyes blazed with determination, finally moving past his panic. And Yamato understood. Taichi was not one to sit still when he felt that there was something he could do to ensure the safety of his family and friends. He was much more likely to run straight into battle, screw the odds, because they were the Digidestined and they _always_ won when they were together. But that in itself was the problem, because without Takeru and Hikari, they weren't complete. Gabumon and Agumon glanced warily between them, as if wondering if they were about to start brawling any second.

"We'll bring the Digimon here just in case," Yamato said, feeling that it wouldn't really make much of difference either way if they stayed in the Digital World or came, but knowing it would at least give Taichi something to do. He continued, "Wizardmon's still collecting them. If it comes to it, at least we'll be ready to help if they need us."

Taichi did not look extremely pleased by this suggestion, but he relented as he said, "Fine, but how are we going to get them here? Unless the gate stayed open, we can't go back and get them."

"We'll have to tell one of the kids."

"Which one though?"

Yamato quickly ran through the very short list. Obviously, the ideal choices would have been either Takeru or Hikari, but as neither one was available, he had to consider the other options. He immediately dismissed both Daisuke and Miyako, as both would probably ask too many questions and would be unlikely to keep this whole matter to themselves. Ken was a possibility, until you took into account that he was dating Miyako, who would most likely wheedle the whole thing out of him. Which left them only one other option left, the Digidestined whom was actually rather perfect for what they needed.

"Iori," both Yamato and Taichi said at the same time. They shared identical grins as their eyes meet. Yamato knew that, just like him, Taichi was probably feeling better about having _some_ kind of a plan and actually _doing _something.

Yamato scooped up Patamon, who just sniffled in his arms as they ran back to their apartment. Taichi checked the gate and found it closed, so he picked up the phone and called Iori, who was at their apartment less than half an hour later. Taichi and Yamato left Gabumon and Agumon with Patamon in the living room, figuring that they couldn't get into that much trouble if they were only going to be in the Digital World for about five minutes and led Iori to the computer. He didn't ask too many questions, but just quietly opened the gate to the Digital World and together the three landed in the Digital World, where they were immediately set upon by eager Digimon.

"Howdy, Iori. How've ya been?" Yamato heard Armadillomon say to Iori as he broke off from the crowd around them to approach his partner. The rest of the Digimon voiced the questions of where their partners were (well, Veemon just jumped up and down excitedly chanting Daisuke name, but it amounted to the same thing).

Taichi and Yamato told them they would explain and Iori took the first batch back with him. Taichi left with another few, as Yamato turned to Wizardmon and said, "Thanks for all this. We really appreciate it."

"You're quite welcome," Wizardmon said. "But I am going with you."

Yamato studied him for a second, before nodding and saying, "Yeah." He figured that Wizardmon's friend was in trouble as well, and he wasn't about stand between something like that. He held up his Digivice to take the rest of them back to the real world through the portal.

They had just gotten through when someone suddenly began banging resoundingly on the door of the apartment. An enraged voice called through the door, "YAMATO! Answer this door! I know you're in there and if you've overslept or have some other lame excuse for not meeting me for breakfast, I am going to beat you over the head with the closest thing I can get my hands on!"

Yamato swallowed deeply and exchanged looks of dread with Taichi as Biyomon called out, "Hey, that sounds like Sora!" Yamato shushed her quickly, thinking quickly. He had completely forgotten that he agreed to meet her that morning in all the things that had happened. He thought it was understandable, but without explaining the whole situation, he knew that Sora was unlikely to see it that way.

"What do we do?" Yamato asked in a hushed whisper to Taichi. Iori looked questioningly between them, but didn't offer any comment.

"You've got to answer the door," Taichi said as he started to usher the Digimon into the bedrooms, causing much too loud protesting from them. "It'll only be worse if you don't."

"Who else is in there?" Sora's voice roared through the door. "Yamato, open this door!"

With the Digimon and Iori safely hidden away behind the bedroom doors, Taichi nodded to Yamato, who approached the door and opened it, immediately saying, "I'm sorry, Sora, I totally forgot. I promise it won't ever happen again."

Sora glared at him and Yamato was sure that she was weighing the sincerity of his apology. Suddenly, her face softened as she said, "I guess this business with Takeru has got you a little off. I suppose I can forgive you."

Yamato's jaw dropped in shock. He was wondering how she found out about what had happened, so all he stammered out was, "Uh…thanks."

Her glare turned glowering one more time before she entered the apartment and bent down to take off her shoes, so she missed the glances that Taichi and Yamato shot at each other over her head. Yamato let out a soft breath of relief as she continued, "I know it's got to be weird to have Takeru show up with a strange girl." She straightened and Yamato followed her further into the apartment. As they walked past the bedroom doors, Yamato could only hope that Iori would keep the Digimon quiet. He was sort of starting to regret his idea of bringing them here. He was insane to think that they could keep this from the others. "So, who was talking earlier? I heard a bunch of voices." Sora looked at him smiling.

"The…uh…TV was on," Taichi said brokenly. Yamato almost winced at the now suspicious glare that Sora was training on both him and Taichi in turn.

"All right," she said. "Out with it. What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing," Yamato and Taichi said at the same time in an identical innocently casual tone.

"Really?" Sora asked and Yamato could tell that not a single part of her believed them. It didn't help that he wanted to tell her the truth, but knew it wouldn't even matter if he did. The darkness wouldn't let her remember Hikari. Her face fell slowly from anger to worry as she said, "Then why do you two have the same look in your eyes that you had just a few days ago when Takeru was in the hospital? You're both worried out of your minds, but trying not to show it. Tell me! I can help. I _want_ to help."

"Sora, we…" Taichi trailed off and Yamato bit his lip. Her eyes were earnest and understanding as she stared at him. The two best friends looked at each other again.

Before either of them could say any more, the door to one of the bedrooms burst open and Biyomon marched out and said, "I agree with Sora. We want to help." The rest of the Digimon came out of the room, shortly followed by the second bedroom door opening and the rest of the Digimon. Iori followed more slowly, Patamon drooping in his arms.

"Biyomon? What are you doing here?" Sora asked complete shock in her voice. She looked around and asked, "What are all of you doing here? And is that…Wizardmon?" She finally caught sight of Iori and Patamon. "Iori? Is that-?" She cut off and whipped around, grabbing Yamato's shirt in her hands. "It's Takeru, isn't it? Something's happened. _What aren't you telling me?_"

Yamato was saved from answering by the phone ringing.

* * *

If there was ever a place he didn't ever want to see again, Takeru would pick this one. He had no idea where he was supposed to find Hikari; both of the times he had been here before, she had either been with him or he had appeared close to her. But there was nothing in sight now other than the ocean, the beach, and the forest of trees. And he didn't even have Patamon with him, his small Digimon not having made it through the portal after him before it closed. It had been a terrible connection; he imagined that if he hadn't jumped when he did he wouldn't have made it through either. He was a little worried of what exactly he could do without his partner, but that didn't stop his resolve of trying to save Hikari anyway.

A figure approached through the ocean mist. Takeru contemplated hiding for half a second, but then realized it really wouldn't do him any good. Whoever was there was walking right towards him; they would have seen him. He just had to hope they would take him to Hikari.

The figure came into better view and at first Takeru thought it was a tall woman dressed in black and purple, but upon closer inspection, the details gave her away as a Digimon rather than a human. She was grinning as she approached, but Takeru had seen enough evil Digimon and their grins not to take that as a great sign. She stopped a few feet from him and purred, "Hello, Takeru." Suddenly her eyes cast about in alarm. She raced forward and grasped his arm in her hand. "Where is Patamon?" she asked, almost in a panic.

Thoroughly confused as to why this Digimon knew him on sight since he had never seen her before, he ripped from her grasp and backed away. "Who are you?" he asked, partly wary, but also partly curious.

She shook her head. "No, no, this isn't right," she muttered, but she didn't seem to be speaking to him at all. "This changes things." She suddenly turned to him and pleaded, "Takeru, you've got to leave. There's too many of them now for us to do anything without Patamon. Your powers are purely defensive, and with Hikari thinking she's Queen of the Dark World now—"

"What?" Takeru exclaimed interrupting both because he was surprised and because he had no idea what this Digimon was going on about. Then, quickly suddenly, it clicked. She knew who he was. She knew who Hikari was. She knew who Patamon was. "Gatomon?" he asked amazed and somewhat horrified at the same time.

She nodded in confirmation. "They brought me here and gave me back my memories of Hikari," she said. "I wasn't being very cooperate when they pulled me here and they thought that giving them back would make me more so, which, in a way, they were right. They filled me with darkness and caused me to Dark Digivolve. I'm Lilithmon now instead of Ophanimon."

"My shield finally helped me regain my memories," Takeru said, nodding in understanding. "You seem to be all right. Why haven't you gotten Hikari out of here?"

"I can't," Lilithmon said giving him a pained look. "Unless some miracle happens, only you and Hikari together can open a portal back to our world. It's one thing to pull someone here, it's quite another to get out. The dark creatures have been pulling a bunch of Dark Digimon from the Digital World here. I thought that if you came and brought Patamon, we could destroy enough of them to get Hikari out, because they are definitely going to fight for her. But without Patamon or Hikari's memories, I'm not sure we could win. I may be a Mega, but there are so many of the dark creatures. They gave me the darkness to reach this level; they might be able to take it away, I don't really know. With Hikari full of darkness, even if I returned to Gatomon, I wouldn't be able to become Angewomon or Ophanimon." She gave a cry of frustration. "There are just too many unknowns. I won't risk Hikari."

Takeru saw her point; he was not going to risk Hikari for anything, but neither did he want to leave her here. "She's really full of darkness? And she thinks she's Queen?"

Lilithmon nodded sadly. "I don't know what happened; I don't have the full story. And to be honest, right now, I don't really care to hear it. We have more important things to worry about. We have to get you back. And you'll probably need to bring everyone else with you. The dark creatures are planning on bringing even more Dark Digimon, more powerful than the ones they have now. They may even be drawing them right now." She looked behind her, almost as if she was expecting one to be there. She beckoned Takeru and began to walk. He followed, his mind swirling with all the new information he had just received.

"I can't leave her here," Takeru said after a few minutes, not able to keep the words in any longer. "You can't ask that of me."

Lilithmon didn't stop walking as she answered, "I'll protect her, Takeru. She'll be safe with me. You can't do anything. Your powers are defensive, not offensive like Hikari's. If she had her memories back and would be willing to fight with us, I might be tempted to try it, but I just don't think that's possible."

An idea struck him so thoroughly that it was a wonder to him that he didn't think of it earlier. "I can use my shield to help her," he said. "I was able to extend it to Patamon, Taichi, and Yamato to get them to remember her. If I could reach her, maybe my shield can push the darkness from her."

Lilithmon was silent for a few seconds. "That could work," she said, but her voice didn't sound as excited and hopeful as he had been. "But I don't think the dark creatures will let you get close to her for you to make it happen. They are well aware of your powers. I don't think they've bothered to erase your memories again because they only wanted you not to remember her long enough for them to turn Hikari to them. I don't know what they will do to you if you try. If you got hurt, that would devastate her." A smile flitted on her lips. "You know, I think Hikari's falling in love with you all over again. She really wants to see you. I believe that was the only reason I convinced her to reach out to you to open the portal again."

Takeru was suddenly silently thrilled and overjoyed at the thought that Hikari still loved him even though she didn't truly remember him. His mind cast back to the words she had absently written on the paper. Some part of her remembered them; he really believed that to be true.

They reached a giant stone castle, for lack of a better word. Lilithmon looked at him in a slight panic. "Remember," she whispered quietly and hastily. "Don't try to get close to her, just concentrate on getting back to the others. You've got to bring them; it's the only way. And trust me, I'll protect her."

Takeru didn't have a chance to answer her, as her gaze turned back to the door and froze over with coldness as they opened. She led him through the doors and Takeru could feel the coldness and the darkness that lay over the very halls of the place. They passed a few Vilemon who flew overhead, but they did nothing to stop or delay them. Takeru clenched his fist. He hated all this darkness that he really couldn't do anything about.

Lilithmon lead him straight to a giant room, where two DarkTyrannomon growled softly from just inside the door, but let them pass. The shadow creatures filled the rest of the hall but for the throne at the end. He paused for a moment; it was the first time he had seen her since regaining his memories. He suddenly recalled the promise ring he had bought her; it had rolled under the dresser during one of his dizzy spells. He told her that he would be with her forever, and he intended to keep his word. He almost threw out Lilithmon's plan right there, and just barely suppressed the urge to run up, grab Hikari, and use all his power to create a portal from this place. The shadow creatures pressed in closer to them, almost as if they heard his thoughts. Lilithmon was right; they would fight him.

Lilithmon went to stand just beside Hikari, shooting Takeru a warning look as she turned around. Hikari smiled brightly at him and he couldn't help but return it. "I'm glad you came, Takeru," she said. "I wanted to explain to you better…why I need to stay here."

"You don't belong here," he said before he could stop himself.

Her face fell. "But I do," she said softly. "You don't know me…not really. We've only known each other a few days. I'm darkness, Takeru. Can't you feel it?"

And it devastated him to admit it, but he could. The same feeling that came from the shadow creatures was now all around her and Lilithmon. All he could wonder was how he could have let this happen to her. He couldn't feel the light in her anymore. But he thought there was still reason to hope. Gatomon still seemed to be herself, despite her Dark Digivolution, and Hikari hadn't change, even when he knew her as Hana. She had written the names of the Crests; Hikari had to be in there somewhere.

Her smile was sad. "I know you do," she said. "I can see it in your face. Why can't you see I belong here…with my people?"

Takeru took a step forward and almost instantly the shadow creatures moved in between him and Hikari forming a dark wall, while the DarkTyrannomon growled threateningly behind him. They did not touch him, but they got really close. Instinctively, his shield came up, but he noticed it didn't throw them back as much as it had in the summer. He suddenly realized that his shield wasn't as strong and knew that it was because Hikari was steeped in darkness. He should have realized that if her light was weakened than his own would be weakened as well; their powers were tied to each other after all. He looked over them to the throne where Hikari was staring at the dark creatures in confusion. Her eyes lifted to his.

"They aren't you're people," Takeru said as he wanted to get through to her. She thought that she belonged around these shadow creatures and Dark Digimon, which was so far from the truth. "You belong in the real world with us."

Her head shook sadly. "I didn't want it to be like this," she said. "I don't want to argue with you, Takeru. I just wanted to tell you good-bye properly. I wanted you to see that I was happy here. That you don't have to worry about me."

Takeru almost sent out a mirthless laugh. That she could actually believe she could be happy here, away from her friends and family, he knew that the dark creatures must have taken advantage of loss of memories. And he knew that he could not rescue her. Not now. Their hold was too strong for him to break alone with his powers weakened both by this world and with the loss of Hikari's Light. His heart nearly tore in two with the realization that he had come all this way just to figure out he could do nothing. He turned his grieved gaze to Lilithmon, who nodded slowly once and placed a hand on Hikari's shoulder, reminding him that she would protect her. He returned the nod and looked back at Hikari. "I'm going to come back for you, Hikari," he said, forgetting briefly that the name meant nothing to her now.

"Please don't," she pleaded desperation and sadness in her voice. "I'm afraid if you do, we will not be on the same side. Please just tell me good-bye, go, and don't look back."

"I won't do that," Takeru said, hoping that he might get through to her. "I love you," he added simply, smiling brightly at her, joy filling him at being able to say it to her again. Her sharp gasp echoed across the hall and her eyes widened with shock. Lilithmon tightened her grip on Hikari and threw Takeru a slightly panicked look.

The dark creatures were pressing closer, but his shield kept them at bay. He reached into himself, trying to find the connection to Hikari that would allow the opening of the portal back to the Digital World. He reached out and something unexpected reached back: a small light, hiding in the darkness. He could feel the portal begin to open, but he locked eyes one more time with Hikari, realizing what it meant. She was there; her light was very deep, but it was still there. There was still hope.

Takeru let the portal take him away, telling himself that he would return as soon as he could.

* * *

All of them stared at the ringing phone, which had just cut across the tension in the room, surprising them with its normalcy. They all glanced at each other before Taichi walked over and checked the ID, finding that it was Koushiro. Suddenly feeling that this certainly couldn't be a coincidence, he picked up the phone and said, a little anxiously, "Hello?"

"Good morning, Taichi," Koushiro replied a little too happily for Taichi's taste. "Have you seen Takeru?"

Taichi gripped the handle a little tighter. He looked around and saw that the other three Digidestined and the Digimon had gathered closer around, though remaining silent. "No. Why?"

"I've been talking to Gennai about Hana, and we've got a theory," Koushiro said. "You've met Hana, right?"

"Yes," Taichi said, thoughts of his sister now crossing his mind.

"I told Takeru I would call him, but he's not answering," Koushiro explained. "So I was—Prodigious!" he said suddenly, cutting off his own sentence and Taichi almost jumped in shock. "Sorry to bother you. I've found him."

Taichi's hold on the phone grew even tighter. "Where is he, Koushiro?" he practically yelled into the phone, his panic and excitement overcoming him in the moment. He locked eyes with Yamato, whose gaze told him he guessed where the phone conversation had just led.

Koushiro next words sounded a little softer, probably in shock that Taichi was yelling at him. "His signal just popped up the Digital World."


	15. Unending

It might have been the way his grip tightened or the cadence of his voice as Taichi asked the question because Yamato knew that somehow Koushiro had found Takeru. Which meant that, more likely than not, his brother was in the Digital World. But Yamato didn't know how that could be. Takeru had only been gone a couple of hours at the very most. Patamon instantly perked up and started asking about his partner, flying around Taichi's head excitedly.

"Just a minute, Patamon," Taichi said distractedly before turning back to the phone. "Was there another Digivice signal there?" Yamato knew he was hoping that Takeru had succeeded. It made sense to wish that because there was very little reason to think Takeru would return without her. But the next few seconds showed that she was not there as Taichi's face became a mixture of anguish and anger, and Yamato knew that Koushiro's answer had been negative. Taichi took a deep breath, his face settling into a calmer state as he said, "Koushiro, I want you to call Jyou and then get over here as fast as you can." There was a pause where Taichi listened to the answer. Taichi's voice took a terse tone of barely suppressed anger, losing what little patience he had gathered, as he said, "You don't understand, Koushiro. If Takeru's in the Digital World, that means he's just returned from the Dark World."

Sora let go of Yamato's shirt (finally) and covered her mouth as she gasped. Taichi forged on. "And tell Jyou I don't care if he's operating on the Emperor, he'd better be over here in under an hour!" There was another short pause and Taichi's face softened just a bit. "Thanks, Koushiro." He hung up the phone and plucked Patamon out of the air. "He's all right, little guy."

Patamon beamed at him, but then his face became a little sad again. "Sorry she wasn't there, Taichi."

"We'll get Takeru and then we can go after her. Together this time," Taichi said resolutely.

No sooner than it had Taichi stopped speaking then Sora turned on Yamato, gripped the front of his shirt again and demanded, "And when exactly were you planning on telling us that Takeru was in the Dark World?"

"Sora, it's more complicated than you think," Yamato said in a weak attempt to pacify her, which did not work in the slightest.

"What's more complicated than our friend is in trouble and we have to save him?" Sora's eyes blazed as she glared at him and Yamato had the sudden urge to find some rock to hide under for a _very_ long time.

"Sora, do you trust me?" Taichi asked suddenly, saving Yamato from having to answer.

Sora looked at him, slightly skeptical, as if she was wondering what he was up to. "Of course, I do. Most of the time," she added in a mutter.

"Then trust me when I say it's not something we can explain, but you'll understand when we reach Takeru." Sora opened her mouth, but Taichi cut her off with a wave of his hand. "I know that doesn't make much sense, but please just call Miyako and Mimi to get them to come over."

It was a few slow seconds before Sora nodded and pulled out her phone. "All right, Taichi," she said as she dialed. "But you'd better explain when we get there."

"Do we have another fight on our hands?" Iori asked quietly. Yamato blinked at him, having almost forgotten the younger boy had been there in the first place.

"It's a possibility we can't rule out at this point, so I want to be prepared." Iori nodded understandably. Taichi turned to Yamato and put Patamon in his arms. "Go with Iori and find him. I'll call Daisuke and Ken. We'll meet you there as soon as we can." He glanced back at Iori. "I forgot to ask Koushiro where he is. Do you know how to locate his signal?"

"Yes. Miyako taught me." He and Armadillomon went in to get the computer ready. Patamon flew out of Yamato's arms to follow him, while Wizardmon broke off from the crowd and went after them.

"Great," he said, but as Yamato walked passed to go with them, Taichi grabbed his arm. He threw a half-grin at Yamato before he said, "Tie him to a tree if you have to, but make sure he stays put this time."

Yamato couldn't help but grin back at him and clapped Taichi on the arm. "We're going to get her back," he said with the certainty that he felt. There was no way they weren't going to get Hikari back, because they were not going to give up on her. "He wouldn't have left her if he didn't have to."

Taichi nodded distractedly and let him go. Yamato went into the room to find them waiting for him. "I've found his signal," Iori said. "Are you ready?"

Yamato nodded. "Let's go." Iori quietly opened the portal and they were on their way to the Digital World by the nearest portal. Once there, Iori pulled out his D-3 and they followed the signal to where it indicated the location of Takeru's D-3.

They first saw him lying on the ground and for one short terrible second, Yamato thought the very worst had happened. But then Patamon cried out "Takeru!" as he flew off towards his partner, and Takeru sat up as Patamon flew right into his chest. He gathered the small Digimon in his arms, but turned to look at Yamato. He stood as the rest of their group approached. They stared at each other for a few moments before Takeru dropped his gaze. "I'm sorry," he said clearly.

And Yamato realized that he wasn't angry, at least not really. He was slightly irked that his brother ran off by himself, but Yamato knew that he himself wasn't much better when it came to him. He'd lost count of the times he and Taichi had argued and fought about it. He placed a hand on Takeru's shoulder. "I understand why you did it."

"She's in there, Yamato," Takeru said quietly, lifting his gaze, hope brimming them grimly. "I felt the light in her. They've got her thinking she's the Queen of the Dark World, but she's not completely theirs."

"And what of Gatomon?" Wizardmon asked. "Did you see her?"

Takeru nodded. "Lil—Gatomon promised to protect her while I came back to get all of you. Since Patamon didn't make it with me, there wasn't much I could do. The shadow creatures are pulling all sorts of Dark Digimon to their world. We might have quite the fight on our hands when we get there."

"Excuse me," Iori interjected softly. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you're talking about."

"Oh, right," Takeru said. He reached out a hand and placed it on Iori's shoulder. Comprehension dawned on the younger boy's features as Takeru's hand glowed with a mild gold light. He breathed a soft "Oh" before Takeru moved on to use his shield on Gabumon and Armadillomon.

"Everyone's coming," Yamato said, once Takeru had restored everyone's memories.

"Good, because we're probably going to need all the help we can get," Takeru said.

* * *

Lillithmon paced nervously. She didn't know exactly when Takeru was going to come, but she hoped it was really soon. She knew it had only been an hour since he left and that she should give him time to gather the others, but the shadow creatures had begun to pull Mega-level Dark Digimon to this world as well as use dark energy to cause some of the lower-leveled Digimon to Digivolve to higher levels, like they had done with her. She knew in the summer that Takeru and Hikari had helped all the Digidestined Digimon reach their Mega levels, but she had no way of knowing if they would be able to do so again. Not only that but the Dark Digimon would be more powerful in this world than they would have been anywhere else. The shadow creatures feed off the Darkness and were eager to pass that power onto their new minions, Hikari's "subjects".

Hikari will still within the throne room that Lilithmon had been banished from by the shadow creatures as they continued their work. Finally the doors opened and a two more Mega Digimon exited, one that was a large red dragon-like creature and another that was a giant purplish werewolf-like creature. She didn't recognize either of them and neither even so much as glanced at her as they walked past.

She strode into the hall determined to see Hikari, but was stopped by the shadow creatures who pressed in close to her. "They are here," they rasped at her. "You will serve our queen…"

Elation filled her as she realized they meant the Digidestined had come, but that was quickly overcome. Darkness flooded into her in such enormous waves that she couldn't fight it off. She could fill her will draining as their dark energy overpowered all her desires. Lilithmon's mind became no longer her own.

"Destroy the Child of Hope…"

Deep in the recesses of her mind, she screamed her defiance, horrified about the command that she had been given. But even as that small voice inside her screamed, "No! No!" she heard her own voice coming from her mouth say emotionlessly, "It will be as you command. Hail, Queen Hana…" Her body moved to leave the castle, as a single silent tear trailed her cheek.

* * *

"Hang on, just for one minute, Takeru," Taichi said, just as the other boy was about to open the portal after restoring everyone's memories of Hikari. Daisuke was pretty upset and raring to go after his friend, even if it did mean an unwelcome trip to the Dark World. Takeru looked at Taichi and Daisuke got the feeling that he was about to say something, but he just nodded after catching Taichi's expression. There was a cool seriousness about Taichi's look that Daisuke didn't often see on his face. Then Taichi continued speaking, "I wanted to make sure you all understood what we're going to do."

"We're going to rescue Hikari, right?" Daisuke asked, a little uncertainly, sure that they had already pretty well established that. He was just barely suppressing the urge to rock back and forth on his feet, eager to get going. Beside him, however, Veemon was not faring as well, shifting from one foot to the other slightly.

"Yes, but that's not all this mission is going to be," Taichi said. "The Digimon we might face…well, we're probably going to have to destroy them."

"What?" Miyako exclaimed. "But they're Digimon…they're real! We can't just…" she trailed off, but her horrified expression spoke volumes.

"Miyako," Yamato spoke up. "Do you think there was any other way to deal with Daemon?"

Miyako's eyes blazed. "That was different," she said hotly. "He was destroying everything and hurting people. We didn't have a choice!"

"It's not going to be any different in the Dark World," Takeru said gently. "The Digimon there are all going to be Dark and fighting to destroy us." A barely perceptible shiver ran through him and Daisuke blinked in surprise when his eyes took on a cold, hard glean for just a moment when he continued, "The Darkness there…it changes things."

"That doesn't mean—" Miyako began again but Taichi cut her off firmly.

"You don't have to come with us," he said. "That's why I'm telling you this now. If you aren't willing to see them destroyed you can stay and wait for us here, but for me, when it comes down to it, if it comes to a choice between them and Hikari, I know what I'm going to choose. But all of you need to make your own choices." A grim silence filled the air once Taichi finished talking. Takeru was the first to speak, quickly agreeing, and the rest of the original group followed, though Mimi hesitated for half a second before she did. Daisuke thought about it for another second, not really comfortable with the idea of destroying Digimon, but then he agreed as well. His friends were more important to him than any old evil Digimon any day. Ken was barely a second behind Daisuke. Iori look hesitant, but a few seconds later he, too, nodded his agreement. Miyako glanced around the group looking conflicted.

"If you don't feel comfortable, you can stay here," Sora said compassionately. "We'll understand."

But then Mimi stepped forward and took Miyako's hands. "Believe me, Miyako," she said. "I understand how you feel completely. There was a time when I hated the fighting so much that I left the group for a while, though Jyou was kind enough to come and take care of me. I was tired of seeing my friends get hurt. Maybe it was a mistake to leave, but because of it, I learned that if you didn't want your friends to get hurt, then you had to fight because together we are stronger. And I'm not telling you this to force you to come with us, but just to help you understand that sometimes you don't have a choice. Angemon destroyed Devimon to stop him from hurting Takeru. Taichi and Agumon destroyed Etemon to protect us. We destroyed Myotismon because he was going to hurt our families. And the Dark Masters were a threat to both worlds, so we destroyed them to keep everyone safe. Because, in the end, our families and friends are what's most important. Especially this family," she said, sweeping her arm to encompass everyone. "We're a family, and Hikari and Gatomon are a part of that. So you'd better bet that I'm going to do anything I have to protect that."

There was a sort of stunned silence after that, one in which Daisuke found some new respect for Mimi. He had never heard her say anything like that before. He looked around at the group to see their reactions. He found the original group a little less shocked than he felt, and many of them seemed to be holding back smiles, other than Takeru and Sora, who were both grinning widely. Iori looked pensive more than anything else, while Ken was staring warily at Miyako, as if he was frightened of Miyako's reaction. Daisuke understood that, having been at the receiving end of Miyako's temper too many times to count.

Finally, Miyako nodded, dipping her head slowly in agreement. "I'm going," she said.

"Great! Now that we've settled that issue, can we get going already?" Gomamon asked impatiently.

"Yeah, what are we waiting for?" Agumon piped up.

"Let's go save our friends," Gabumon added.

All eyes turned to Takeru as he said, "I'm not sure how long the portal will remain open. It was pretty shaky this morning. So we're going to have to run in as soon as it's open."

"Right," everyone agreed.

Takeru turned away from them and closed his eyes. A golden aura surrounded him before a giant swirling portal opened up. Takeru smiled as he opened his eyes, before running towards the portal, Patamon in his arms. The rest of the Digidestined and Digimon weren't far behind.

A few seconds later, Daisuke got his first glimpse of the Dark World and was suitably unimpressed. The place was cold and grey and Daisuke wasn't really jumping at the chance to buy a vacation home here. "This is officially the creepiest place I have ever been to," Daisuke remarked.

"I don't know," Taichi said. "Myotismon's castle was pretty creepy."

"This place is definitely worse," Mimi said firmly.

"Besides, Daisuke never went to Myotismon's castle, so therefore his statement is correct either way," Koushiro pointed out.

"Right," Daisuke said slowly, rubbing his head. "So where's Hikari anyway?" He turned to look at Takeru (the only person who would know) but he was staring down the coastline.

Takeru looked a little disappointed, but Daisuke wasn't sure about what. He knew it couldn't be what the place looked liked, this being Takeru's third or fourth time in this world (Daisuke couldn't remember which one it was at the moment). He couldn't have been expecting much, seeing as it was called the Dark World and it being all dark and stuff. "I was hoping that…" Takeru began to say, but ended up trailing off, now staring worriedly into the misty fog down the beach. "I guess she's not coming," he finished softly.

"Who's not coming?" Miyako demanded to know as she glanced about nervously.

"Lil—Gatomon," Takeru answered. He sighed. "The…er…castle is that way," he said pointing down the expanse of beach that lay before them.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get her!" Daisuke said impatiently. He couldn't understand why they were just standing here when they could be getting Hikari back.

"Wait. We need some kind of plan first," Jyou said sensibly.

"What's wrong with our normal plan?" Gomamon asked indignantly.

"What are you talking about?" Biyomon asked.

"You know, rush in, beat the bad guys, and go home," Gomamon said with a shrug. "It usually works."

"That's completely beside the point," Jyou said exasperatedly, though Daisuke had to admit that he agreed with Gomamon.

"I don't know," Sora interjected. "That sounds pretty accurate to me."

"Who's that?" Patamon asked suddenly.

Daisuke looked beyond the fog where five figures of varying sizes were approaching through the fog. A loud voice suddenly roared, "**Megiddo Flame!**" Takeru's golden shield flung up in front of them as numerable fireballs raced towards them. The shield stopped them, but it shattered after the attack was flung back. Takeru himself collapsed to his knees, his breath suddenly panting and ragged.

Daisuke was first to his side, as he was the closest, but Yamato and Sora were not far behind. "Are you all right, man?" Daisuke asked nervously. Yamato and Sora helped Takeru up to his feet, concern clear on their faces as well.

"I'm fine," Takeru assured them, taking deep breaths which returned his breathing back to normal, as the rest of the Digidestined and Digimon gathered close around him. "It's because of what's happening with Hikari. When her power isn't strong, neither is mine. I had to use more energy to stop the attack. It just caught me a little off-guard is all. I wasn't expecting it to be so powerful. We need to Digivolve. Now," he added.

"Well then, let's go," Daisuke said enthusiastically, excited to actually be doing something. He turned to his blue Digimon and asked, "Veemon?"

"Ready when you are, Daisuke!" Veemon said, brandishing his fists earnestly. "Veemon Digivolve to…ExVeemon!"

"I think Daisuke's got the right idea for once," Miyako stated.

"I agree," Taichi said before he nodded and then he looked at Agumon. "You ready, buddy?"

"Yeah!" Agumon said. "Agumon Warp Digivolve to…WarGreymon!"

"Gabumon Warp Digivolve to…MetalGarurumon!"

"Wormmon Digivolve to…Stingmon!"

"ExVeemon…Stingmon…DNA Digivolve to…Paildramon!"

"Paildramon Mega Digivolve to…Imperialdramon!"

"Tentomon Warp Digivolve to…HerculesKabuterimon!"

"Gomamon Warp Digivolve to…Vikemon!"

"Palmon Warp Digivolve to…Rosemon!"

"Armadillomon Warp Digivolve to…Cannondramon!"

"Hawkmon Warp Digivolve to…Ornismon!"

"Biyomon Warp Digivolve to…Hououmon!"

"What's wrong, Takeru?" Patamon asked, instead of Digivolving. Daisuke looked at Takeru when he noticed that they were the only ones who hadn't Digivolved.

"We'll wait, Patamon," Takeru said purposefully. "Until we reach her."

Daisuke shrugged, figuring that they had so many on their team that those other five Digimon didn't stand a chance even if Patamon didn't join the battle. "Let's go, Imperialdramon!" he called out to his partner. Imperialdramon sent off his **Positron Laser** at the same time WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon attacked with **Terra Force** and **Metal Wolf Claw**. The five Digimon scattered as the attacks came their way. The other Digimon also joined the battle.

"Who are they, Koushiro?" Taichi asked.

Koushiro whipped out his computer and typed quickly. "Pharaohmon, Minervamon, Callismon, Megidramon, and GranKuwagamon," he replied. "They're all Megas. Megidramon is the one who attack us."

"Let's get rid of these guys quickly and move on to find Hikari," Taichi said.

"Taichi, wait," Jyou said. "I think we should split up instead. Five of us should stay here and fight these guys while the rest of you move on. There will probably be more Digimon protecting Hikari up ahead."

Taichi nodded. "Good idea, Jyou," he said before he quickly glanced around at the group, and Daisuke could tell that he was coming to some kind of decision. "You, Mimi, Iori, Miyako, and Sora stay here, while the rest of us go on," he said after a few seconds.

Everyone nodded, so used to following Taichi as the leader that they didn't question his decision. Daisuke was bummed not to be participating in the battle right now, but happy that he had the chance to continue on to get Hikari. The Digidestined who were going on called out to their partners, who came down as the other five stayed in the battle. They, including Wizardmon, climbed up onto Imperialdramon, as the others got ready to fly around them as protection. Daisuke glanced back at the battle to see how they were faring.

Vikemon swung his hammer at Pharoahmon, who retaliated with his **Fist of Nile**. Rosemon swung her **Rose Spear** at the diminutive Minervamon, who blocked it with her giant sword. Cannondramon rammed into Callismon, who went flying, but was quick to rejoin the battle. Ornismon fired his dazzlingly **Cosmic Ray **at GranKuwagamon, who flung his own **Dimension Scissors** at his attack, causing a huge explosion as the two attacks hit. Megidramon fired off another **Megiddo Flame** at Hououmon, who maneuvered in the air to narrowly avoid it.

"Go!" Sora cried to them, as she, Mimi, Miyako, Jyou, and Iori took cover in the forest. The five Digimon left behind sufficiently distracted the Dark Digimon as Imperialdramon flew them on down the beach.

"**Mega Electro Shocker!**" HerculesKabuterimon suddenly called out about a minute later. Two Digimon flew into view who avoided the attack.

"That's Megadramon and Gigadramon!" Koushiro said.

"**Dark Side Attack!**" Megadramon called out at the same time as Gigadramon called out, "**Genocide Gear!**"

"**Terra Force!**" WarGreymon retaliated, destroying their attacks with his own.

Just then, two voices called out, "**Nuclear Laser!**" and two beams of blue energy blew at Imperialdramon, but HerculesKabuterimon blocked them with another **Mega Electro Shocker**. Two metal dinosaur-like Digimon clomped into view.

"They're MetalTyrannomon," Koushiro said after a quickly typing on his computer.

"We'll take care of this small fry!" Imperialdramon yelled, opening his dome. The Digidestined and Wizardmon went to the ground and Imperialdramon changed into Fighter Mode.

"Taichi, take Takeru and Yamato," Koushiro said. "We'll stay here and catch up later."

Taichi nodded. "Thanks, guys," he said before he yelled out to WarGreymon.

"MetalGarurumon, come on," Yamato yelled too. The two Digimon flew down to their partners.

As Takeru and Yamato jumped onto MetalGarurumon's back, with Patamon gripped tightly in Takeru's arms, WarGreymon grabbed Taichi. Daisuke watched them fly away, with Wizardmon, wishing them success in getting Hikari back. "Let's take out these guys!" he called to Imperialdramon, turning his attention back to the battle. The sooner they finished these guys, the faster he could go after them and help rescue Hikari, too.

* * *

"There's the castle," Takeru called out as the structure came into view, but was still rather far enough away. But then MetalGarurumon had to quickly veer to the side as dark red giant ball of energy, reminiscent of WarGreymon's **Terra Force**, flew in their direction. They landed not far from the castle right where a black clad Digimon stood. He looked similar to WarGreymon, except that he was clothed in black samurai-like gear and carried two swords.

"Who are you?" WarGreymon asked as Takeru, Yamato, and Taichi took to the ground.

"I am Gaiomon," the Digimon said. "I have been charged with guarding the way to Queen Hana."

"Go get him, WarGreymon," Taichi said.

"With pleasure!" WarGreymon said, rushing at him with his **Mega Claw** attack. MetalGarurumon was not far behind. Gaiomon blocked his attack and used a **Fire Cutter Blade** to fling WarGreymon away, where he flew straight into MetalGarurumon, knocking both of them to the ground.

"Are you guys all right?" Yamato asked as the three of them rushed over to them.

"We're fine," MetalGarurumon said as they got back on their feet. "We can handle this guy. You've got to go rescue Hikari! Come on, WarGreymon!"

"WarGreymon…MetalGarurumon…DNA Digivolve to…Omnimon!"

Omnimon called out, "**Supreme Cannon!**" as dozens of energy balls flew towards Gaiomon. Gaiomon, however, was really quick and managed to avoid some, while deflecting others with his swords.

"Taichi, I'll stay here with them," Yamato said, turning to them. "You and Takeru go to the castle and get Hikari."

"Are you sure?" Taichi asked. Takeru got the feeling there was more to what the two friends were saying, but he wasn't exactly sure what it was. He understood it though. He and Hikari had had many similar conversations and looks.

"Go," Yamato said nodding as Omnimon launched at Gaiomon with his own sword this time. Taichi grabbed Takeru's arm and they ran towards the castle doors with Wizardmon behind them as Gaiomon was distracted by the battle.

There was someone standing in front of the doors when they reached them. Takeru could feel Taichi tense beside him, but he just sighed in relief. "Lilithmon," he breathed. "I was wondering where you were."

"Hello," Lilithmon said in an odd flat tone. "I knew you would come."

"Who is that?" Taichi hissed.

"It's Gatomon," Takeru explained briefly, stepping closer to Lilithmon.

"It's who?" Taichi asked sharply, but Takeru didn't answer as he frowned in thought. Lilithmon had an odd dead look in her eyes and her face was lined with indifference rather than the happiness it had shown the last time they had met.

Her hand lifted slowly as she said blankly, "**Darkness Love!**"

Taichi tackled him to the ground as a black beam shot at them, narrowly missing over their heads. Patamon cried out Takeru's name before he called, "Patamon Warp Digivolve to…Seraphimon!" Seraphimon swung his sword at Lilithmon who twirled aside avoiding the blade.

Takeru pushed Taichi off him as he scrambled to his feet. "Seraphimon, stop!" he yelled. His partner stepped back, but kept the sword upright in a ready position. Lilithmon stood silently, her eyes dead as they fell to gaze at the ground. Takeru took a few cautious steps forward and said, "Gatomon, it's me. You've got to fight it! We're here to bring you and Hikari home, remember?"

Lilithmon's glazed stare lifted to look at him. "Destroy the Child of Hope," she said blankly. Her face remained expressionless as she lifted her grotesque claw from the inside of her robes and lunged at Takeru. Seraphimon pushed Takeru back as his sword caught Lilithmon's claw. Takeru would have fallen to the ground again if Taichi hadn't caught him.

"Are you crazy?" Taichi demanded as he pushed Takeru back onto his feet.

"She's being controlled or something," Takeru explained. "That's Gatomon."

"Sure doesn't look like Gatomon," Taichi said skeptically.

"The shadow creatures forced her to Dark Digivolve," Takeru said. "Last time I was here, she looked like that, but she was still just Gatomon underneath. They must have done something to her."

Seraphimon, who had continued battling Lilithmon, caught her with a swipe that flung Lilithmon rolling to the ground. She began to push herself up shakily with her hands, though her expression never changed. "That is truly Gatomon?" Wizardmon asked.

"Yes," Takeru said with absolute certainty, still trying to think of what he could do to get her back to how she was supposed to be.

But then Wizardmon started walking towards the still fallen Lilithmon. Takeru almost stopped him until he realized that he would have a better chance to bring Gatomon back, as he was her closest friend aside from Hikari. "What does your heart tell you, Gatomon?" was all Wizardmon said.

There was a second where Lilithmon just stared blankly at her friend, but then the briefest flicker of life flashed into her eyes as she said brokenly, "Wiz…ard…mon…"

Wizardmon stepped even closer. The rest of them stood there, entranced at the scene. "You are stronger than them, Gatomon," he said.

Lilithmon rose slowly to her feet. Her whole body was shaking as her left hand gripped the other clawed arm. Her shoulders hunched around her as her gaze remained fixated on the ground. "You…will not…have me," she said as her gaze lifted slowly. She looked first at Wizardmon and whispered, "Thank you…old friend." Then her gaze went to Seraphimon. "Seraphimon…please…I can't…"

Takeru realized that she was fighting them, holding onto herself, and knew what she was asking of Seraphimon. "No!" he yelled.

The corner of her mouth lifted just barely as she turned her gaze to Takeru. "Not…what…you…" she said before her eyes closed and a cry of pain escaped her lips as she fell to her knees. Takeru and Taichi both started to run forward, but she fixed them with a familiar glare that stopped both of the boys in their tracks. "No…save her," she rasped. She looked once again at Seraphimon. "Please…" she pleaded.

Seraphimon pulled his right hand back, as his sword retracted back. His fist glowed golden and as he punched forward calling out, "**Hallowed Knuckle!**" an orb of light shot from his hand and slammed into Lilithmon. Takeru could only watch horrified as she flew back and slammed into the wall of the castle before falling to the ground. But then he felt a deep sense of relief as she glowed purplish-black and shrank, meaning that she was just de-Digivolving instead of being destroyed. When the glow disappeared, a black version of Gatomon lay face down on the ground. Wizardmon was the first to run over to her, but Takeru and Taichi were not far behind. Wizardmon was turning the cat-like Digimon over in his arms.

"Gatomon?" Wizardmon said and they all left out a sigh of relief when her eyes, a fierce yellow instead of the blue Takeru was expecting, fluttered opened.

She smiled at Wizardmon before turning her gaze to Takeru. "I'm sorry," she said. "They caught me off guard."

Takeru smiled at her, understanding completely what she meant. "It's all right," he assured her gently. "I'm glad you're okay."

"My tail ring," she said, swishing her tail around, the golden ring looking more dulled than Takeru remembered. "Your shield should..." she trailed off, but Takeru understood as he kneeled down next to them. He grabbed her tail ring gently in his hands and pushed his golden shield out into her, like he had done with all the others, except instead of pushing the darkness just from memories, he was pushing the darkness from her complete being. Slowly, the black fur on her turned back to white, as Takeru's power destroyed pushed all the darkness out of Gatomon. Soon, their friend was back to her normal self with her tail ring glinting brightly as Takeru let it fall from his grip. "Thank you," she whispered before her now familiar wide blue eyes closed in sleep.

"I will remain here with her," Wizardmon said. "Go and rescue Hikari."

"But—" Takeru began to protest, torn between his desires to help Gatomon and to save Hikari, but Taichi pulled him to his feet, making the decision for him.

"She'll be fine," he said. "It's time to bring Hikari home."

Takeru nodded and they went through the doors of the castle, Seraphimon flying above them. It was time to complete their team, their family, once again.

* * *

Hana could hear it. The sounds of battle, the cries, the explosions, all of it made her cringe. And she hated, _hated_, that it was for her. Her people were being hurt, fighting to keep her safe, to keep her here. She wanted to know why Takeru couldn't have just left her here. Because she knew that it was him out there. After he left, she had been determined that if he reached to her again to open the portal, she would ignore it. But when she felt that pull, despite her desire to ignore it, something deep inside her answered him and let him in.

She kept telling herself this wasn't what she wanted, but somehow she was having a hard time believing it. She told herself that she didn't want Takeru and his friends to come and save her, yet there was a nagging doubt. It was most apparent when she remembered Takeru's declaration to her, just before he left. She didn't remember very much, but she didn't think that someone could fall in love with another after knowing them just a couple of days. But his words hadn't been desperate or pleading, just a simple, matter-of-fact statement of complete certainty.

There were also her own feelings that she had to consider. There had been a moment, Hana was sure, when she first truly looked into his blue eyes, of a sense of familiarity and the safety she felt when she had been in her arms was something she hadn't just imagined. She wasn't sure how it could be; he hadn't known who she was, so she couldn't have known him before she lost her memories. But it had been her that had kissed Takeru that night she left. It was something that had seemed so right at the time, but now had her wondering why she had even done it in the first place.

Hana felt so lost. Somehow, Takeru loved her; she had heard the truth in the words he spoke to her. Now it was slowly coming to her realization that she inexplicably loved him back.

Suddenly, she wanted to escape to somewhere, anywhere, that wasn't this large expansive throne room that even full of the shadow creatures that surrounded her felt surprisingly so empty. She hadn't left this room since the shadow creatures had ushered her into it that very morning after the events in the room with the pedestal, though it seemed like so much longer than that. Now she was so tired and confused; her mind was in a fog with the complete lack of sleep. She had asked to be taken back to her bed, but the shadow creatures said her room was being prepared for something. So, she had dozed briefly on her throne between sessions of bringing her people here, but it just wasn't enough.

Not necessarily unexpectedly, the doors burst open and they were standing there. Feelings rushed through Hana when she saw them. Takeru's gaze fell on her and his face broke into a heart-stopping smile. There was a blue armor clad angel above him and she wondered for a moment if that was Angemon; perhaps he had been changed just like Gatomon had…Digivolved, she thought, the word coming to her. Beside him stood Taichi, who had acted so strange around her before. But now if anything, his expression was closer to Takeru's, happy and excited though with quite a bit more determination to it than Takeru's did. Of all things, this confused her even more. Taichi had barely spoken to her the last time they met and now he was looking at her like he had just found his long-lost sister or something.

Almost immediately the scores of dark creatures swarmed around her, and the smiles fell from the boys' faces. "That's not going to stop us," Taichi said hotly. "We're taking her home."

"No…"

"Queen Hana is ours…"

"She belongs to us…"

"Seraphimon, don't attack," Takeru said as the angel lifted his hand. He, Seraphimon, Hana had to assume, lowered his hand and just hovered above them.

"What crazy thing are you going to try now?" Taichi asked and his tone made Hana wonder what Takeru had done before they arrived.

Instead of answering him, Takeru swept his gaze over the shadow creatures before he locked gazes with Hana. "I know you're somewhere in there," he said directly to her. "The last time I was here, I felt the light in you, just before I left."

"Impossible…"

"We destroyed the light…"

Hana withheld a gasp, but her hand lifted to cover her mouth. The shadow creatures made it sound like they knew what Takeru was talking about, but she didn't know how that could be. She was from the Dark World, so it shouldn't be possible for her to have any light. But the dark creatures didn't seem to agree with that. Takeru didn't agree with that.

Takeru just smiled, his eyes never wavering from Hana, as he made his reply, "You can't destroy the light; it is unending. Because even when everything is at the darkest there is always hope." His smile grew even wider and took on a gentle hint. "And that is why she has us."

His statement hit Hana with a cord of truthfulness. And she realized that she hadn't been happy here. She hadn't been happy, until Takeru and Taichi burst through those doorways, and she had felt a leap of joy and something she could only describe as relief. She didn't know how she could not have noticed it before. She didn't know how she have ever thought she belonged here, when all she wanted to do was step off the throne and run into the arms of the two boys standing at the other end of the hall.

Hana stood and reached her arm out. She only got a glimpse of the relieved and happy smiles on Takeru's and Taichi's faces before the shadow creatures swarmed closer around her, blocking them from her view, some of them even grabbing her with their ice-fire grips. She heard Taichi scream, "Get your hands off her!" But she only got brief glimpses of them beyond that; Taichi looked like he was trying to take on the shadow creatures single-handedly and Takeru had a golden glow around him that seemed to ward off the creatures somewhat. She could hear Seraphimon fighting, his bright sword swooshing through the air. She called on the attack she had done when she first met Takeru, but the darkness didn't seem to even affect the creatures at all when it hit them.

Then suddenly, Hana felt two different hands grip each of hers. One was a fierce, tense grip, one that she knew that she would never pull out of, even if she wanted to. The other was gentler, but still just as determined not to let her go. A golden light, warm and comforting raced through her, dispelling all the darkness it came across. Once it touched her light, deep inside the heart of darkness, where it had lay dormant as if it had been waiting for this touch of golden hope. The golden warmth breathed the pink light to life, calling it out and joining them together. Together the gold and pink destroyed all the darkness, leaving not a single residue in her. Hikari was herself once again.

At first she was almost horrified at what she had done, calling out Dark Digimon to attack her friends, but her gaze lifted to the two holding her hands so tightly, neither of their grips slackening in the least, that stood with her under a golden dome (Takeru's shield, she realized). Taichi's smile was ecstatic and comforting, overjoyed, Hikari knew, to have her back. Takeru's smile was reassuring and gentle, more for herself than for him. Her brother and her best friend. Her protectors. So many wonderful happy feelings washed over her; she had so much she wanted to say, but the sudden thought of her Digimon popped into her head. "Gatomon?" she asked tentatively.

"She's fine," Taichi was quick to reassure her.

Takeru looked up, beyond his shield. "Now, Seraphimon," Takeru yelled and Hikari realized they had been waiting to attack until they had her.

"**Strike of the Seven Stars!**" Seraphimon called out. Golden globes of light rained down on them, destroying every shadow creature they touched. Hikari cringed slightly as each of the seven globes hit, causing massive explosions and destruction in their wake. Both Taichi's and Takeru's grips tightened slightly on her hands, reassuring her that they were safely ensconced under Takeru's shield. Once the dust settled, the shield faded and Hikari looked around at what once was the throne room, though it more resembled rubble ruins now.

There were two shadow creatures left lurking in the ruins. Hikari pulled her hands from the boys' grasps and lifted her hands to aim. Two beams of pink light shot at the creatures, destroying them completely. She quickly glanced around the room, seeing if she could see any more creatures, but there were none. They were destroyed at last. She turned back to the boys, who were both smiling at her still. Hikari threw her arms around Taichi, who hugged her tightly back. "I'm so glad you're safe," Taichi muttered in her ear.

"Thank you for coming for me," Hikari whispered back. They separated and Hikari could see his eyes brimming with emotions. She smiled happily before she turned to her other hero. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a sound kiss. Takeru took only about half a second before he pulled her close and kissed her back.

"Hey! I'm standing right here, you know," Taichi said with exasperation and mock indignation. Hikari could tell the difference.

So she broke the kiss, turning slightly in Takeru's arms. She gave her brother her sweetest, most innocent smile as she said, "My dearest brother, turn around then if you don't want to see."

Taichi's jaw dropped and Takeru burst into laughter. Hikari joined in quickly, relief at everything being over feeding her joy. It was only a few seconds later that Taichi started laughing as well. Patamon flew down and landed on Takeru's head, asking, "What's so funny?"

But all of them were laughing too hard to answer.

* * *

Takeru knelt on the ground, reaching under his desk to fish out the item he was looking for. Everyone was recovered from the trip to the Dark World earlier that week and Takeru had just come from a great Digidestined gathering. It had been a nightmare trying to get Hikari's things back from the Dark World, but they finally managed it when they realized that anything they touched would move between the portals with them.

Everyone was relieved to learn that with the destruction of the shadow creatures, everyone else's memories of Hikari had been restored as well, so there was a less problematic explanation to her parents (Yuuko had still been horrified that Hikari got mixed up with Digimon _again_, but at least she remembered Hikari). Takeru couldn't even begin to imagine the other problems that would have occurred otherwise.

His fingers closed around the object he was looking for and pulled it out to view the little white box now resting in his palm. He had completely forgotten about it and if it hadn't been for Mimi, he wasn't sure how long it would have taken him to remember.

They had been just lounging around when Mimi suddenly turned to Hikari and asked, "Hikari, what is your ring size?"

Takeru had been lucky that Hikari had to look away from him to answer her, so that she missed the stunned and horrified look that blossomed on his face. Hikari told her the answer, and then, with her brows furrowed, asked, "Why?"

"Just curious," Mimi replied casually before turning back and resuming her conversation with Miyako. To his immense relief, he managed to school his features back into his trademark smile by the time Hikari looked at him again.

He opened the box and studied the opal promise ring for a few seconds before snapping it shut and stuffing it into his pocket. Now he would be prepared to give it to Hikari whenever the right moment came along.


	16. Epilogue

**_Seven years later…_**

A little auburn-haired girl with wide brown eyes played delightfully with a blond-haired, blue-eyed baby. Hikari watched them with a small smile on her face, as each of the children's mothers hustled around her, adjusting each imaginary wrinkle on her white dress, talking animatedly as the put the final touches on Hikari's ensemble. In Hikari's opinion, they were almost as bad as her mother, who had stepped out just a few minutes ago to check on the flowers for the eighth time in the past hour. Hikari didn't really know what the fuss was about (as she was the last Digidestined girl to get married), but she let them go ahead and fawn over everything, completely serene herself, despite the bustle around her. She was quite certain that as long as she was married to Takeru by the end of the day, nothing else mattered. But then she supposed, after all, she _was_ her mother's only daughter, and her mother was entitled to fuss over her.

She turned her attention to her other best friend, Miyako, who was lounging in a chair. "Are you doing all right, Miyako?" she asked, grinning slightly.

"What on_ earth_ possessed you to want to get married _outside_ in the _summer_?" Miyako demanded to know, fanning herself wildly, her feet propped on another chair in front of her.

"First of all, it's still technically spring as summer doesn't start until next week," Hikari pointed out logically. "And second, it's not actually that hot outside, all things considered."

"So says the woman who is not _eight months pregnant_!" Miyako said, putting heavy emphasis on the last bit, waving her hands around.

"It's not _my_ fault you and Ken choose to have a baby around the same time as my wedding," Hikari said, trying to keep her tone falsely indignant, but not quite managing it as a grin spread widely across her lips.

"Pfft," was Miyako's reply. "All I'm saying is the least you and Takeru could do, after making me suffer like this, is to have a kid right away, so that our kids can be best friends." Which promptly sent Hikari into a fit of giggles, one that Mimi and Sora joined in quickly enough. Miyako all glared at them, huffing in her discomfort, but as she turned away, Hikari saw the hint of a smile on her face.

The little girl, dressed in a pretty pink dress with her hair pulled into pigtails tied with gold ribbons (Mimi had fully embraced the color scheme of gold and pink the minute Hikari had suggested it to her), was now pulling gently on Mimi's dress. "Excuse me, Mother," she said politely.

Mimi smiled down at her. "Yes, Akiko?" she asked.

"I must inform you, Mother, that Hiroto fell over," Akiko said, pointing over to where she had been playing with the baby boy. They all looked over at the baby boy, who was indeed now lying on his back, though he wasn't crying. He was just lying on the floor and laughing at the ceiling. Sora rolled her eyes, as she gave a long-suffering sigh before walking over to set her nine-month-old son back upright, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "too much time with Taichi". She then pulled out her phone and began sending a message.

Akiko looked at Hikari and gave her an awed look. "Prodigious," she whispered almost reverently. "You look just like a princess!" Hikari covered her smile at the three-year-old girl's use of her father's favorite phrase with her hand. Akiko was a very bizarre, startling combination of her parents. She was terribly adorable, but it was rather disconcerting sometimes to hear her say "Look! There's a rainbow! Did you know that rainbows are a refraction of light through a medium? I wish I had a rainbow pony." or "I love strawberry pie. You know, the first nine digits of pi are 3.14159265. What's your favorite pie?" all in the same breath.

Hikari had always thought that it was a rather odd twist of fate that Koushiro and Mimi had been the first of the "Digidestined couples" to get married over four years ago, seeing as they were the last to start dating. Sora and Yamato had followed them two years later, with Miyako and Ken a little less than a year after them. Hikari smiled once again, still ridiculously happy that it was finally her turn.

* * *

"How's my brother-in-law?" Taichi asked, flopping into a chair and propping up his feet and resting his hands behind his head, after Yamato stepped out of the room, answering a message from Sora. Taichi hadn't really changed much at all; with his head still covered in the same bushy hair as it always had (Takeru had seen the baby pictures to prove it). Takeru had been there the one time that Sora had suggested that he cut it. Taichi had stated vehemently that they may have taken his goggles, but no one was going to take his hair from him. At which point, Yamato had pointed out that Taichi had given his goggles away to Daisuke all those years ago, so he couldn't really blame anyone for that. Subsequently, Taichi had ignored him and said that it didn't matter, he wasn't going to cut his hair…ever.

"You know, we're not actually married yet," Takeru said to him somewhat dryly, but with a wide grin on his face.

Taichi waved his hand at him and made a dismissing sound. "Technicalities," he said. "You guys have been married practically since you met."

Takeru blinked at him, a little surprised that it was _Taichi_ of all people who was saying that. "Taichi, I wasn't even in love with your sister then," Takeru explained in a tone one might use on a small child.

Taichi sat up and his hands fell to his sides as he frowned. "Why not?" he asked defensively, as if it was a capital offense that anyone wouldn't be in love with his sister.

"We were eight," Takeru said, slightly amused.

"Age is just a number when it comes to love," Taichi said airily, relaxing again as he waved his hand again in Takeru's direction in a dismissive manner once more.

"We were _eight_," Takeru repeated heavily, placing a hard emphasis on the last word.

"Besides," Taichi continued as if Takeru hadn't spoken at all. "You had that whole destiny thing going for you."

Before he could Takeru could ask Taichi what in the world he was talking about, Yamato walked in carrying Hiroto in one arm and the baby's bag in the other. The little boy gave a wide smile when he saw Takeru, but began waving his arms frantically and laughing when he spotted Taichi. Taichi, grinning quite widely himself, stood up and plucked Hiroto from Yamato's arms. He threw him up into the air and caught him, causing Hiroto to squeal giddily.

"You know, seeing as he's my nephew and all, I think I should be offended that he likes you better than me," Takeru remarked dryly.

Taichi made a dismissing sound. "Like anything could actually offend you, Takeru," he said. "Besides, not even kids can resist my dazzlingly charm," he finished, throwing Hiroto up again, causing another fit of giggles.

"There's that," Yamato said, with half a grin. "Or he just sees you as a giant toy more than an actual person. He gave the same reaction to his stuffed Gabumon the other day."

Takeru laughed at Taichi's indignant frown, especially when it got even deeper when Yamato pulled out the stuffed Gabumon from the bag on his shoulder and Hiroto waved and giggled frantically when he saw it. Yamato handed it over and Hiroto gripped it tightly to himself. The toy had been a gift from Mimi when Hiroto was born, having designed and sewn it herself. She had made a stuffed Palmon for her own daughter, Akiko, and Takeru knew, through Hikari of course, that she was working on a Hawkmon for Miyako and Ken's daughter for when she was born sometime next month. Takeru's mind was suddenly taken back to a memory of a train, Yokomon, and another baby, which made a smile creep up on his lips.

"The girls are ready," Yamato was saying, bringing him out of his memories. "I think we'd better start soon before Mom has a heart attack. When I passed her in the hall, she was muttering to herself."

"At least she's not as bad as my mom," Taichi pointed out in between making funny faces at Hiroto.

"That's true," Yamato conceded. "When I went to rescue Hiroto from Akiko, she almost attacked me to straighten my tie and fiddle with my jacket."

"How was Hikari?" Takeru asked, his voice casual, but all of the sudden he felt nervous.

Yamato chuckled. "She looked like she was barely containing her laughter at her mother's behavior," he said easily. "Honestly, I think every other woman we know is more worried about this wedding than Hikari."

"It's the destiny thing," Taichi said, nodding sagely.

"I know," Yamato agreed, surprising Takeru. "They've been married since, like what—the day they met?"

"We were eight," Takeru interjected more resigned than anything else, but feeling the need to get his point across, nonetheless.

They were interrupted from saying anymore by the arrival of the rest of the Digidestined men, except for Iori, who had all been pressed into work by one or both of the wedding mothers soon after they arrived that morning. "Man, those boxes were heavy," Daisuke said, rubbing his arm. "What are we going to eat? Gotsumon?"

"They actually weren't that bad if you carried them one at a time," Ken commented.

"I wanted to get finished faster," Daisuke said defensively.

"Considering that it took you twice as long to complete the task carrying two boxes instead of one, I'd say your plan was rather ineffective," Koushiro pointed out logically.

Hoping to stop what could possibly become a full-blown argument (thank goodness Miyako wasn't there or it might have already been one), Takeru asked, "Where's Iori?"

"He went to get Gatomon and Patamon," Koushiro answered, but then he frowned. "I'd have thought he would have gotten back by now."

As if by magic, the door opened and Iori walked in with Patamon in his arms, who flew off to take his spot on Takeru's head. He looked a little disheveled and slightly out of breath. "Sorry, we're late," Iori said. "There was a slight Numemon problem on our way back to the gate. I already dropped Gatomon off at the girls' room."

"Let me guess," Yamato said at that point. "Mrs. Yagami attacked you?"

Iori shuffled nervously. "Well, I wouldn't say _attacked_ exactly…"

"I would," Taichi said with a snort. "Now that we're all here, let's get this show on the road," he finished, enthusiastically, causing Hiroto to go into another fit of giggles.

* * *

Gatomon and Patamon watched the proceedings below, safely hidden in a tree close by. Gatomon, with her better hearing, knew exactly what was going on. So she was forced to tell Patamon exactly what was going on, or suffer his nagging every five seconds.

Takeru and Hikari had decided to minimize the wedding as much as they possibly could (it was their mothers, more than them, who, it seemed to Gatomon at least, had invited everyone the two had ever known since kindergarten). So they had decided to only have one person each stand beside them during the ceremony. Takeru had chosen Yamato, while Hikari had chosen Miyako, who was actually sitting rather than standing. Gatomon thought back to the conversation in the dressing room just before the ceremony.

Miyako had asked Hikari if she was absolutely sure that she wanted her to do it (given that she was eight months pregnant and it was uncomfortable to stand for ten minutes let alone for a whole wedding ceremony). But Hikari insisted that she wanted Miyako, saying that she didn't care if Miyako had to sit the whole time, she wanted Miyako to be the one. Besides the fact that no one else would fit in the dress now (it was pink, in going along with the décor).

Gatomon snickered when she spotted the Izumi family. Akiko sat on Koushiro's lap, with her hands clasped in front of her chest, gazing at the wedding couple with stars in her eyes. What made Gatomon snicker was that Mimi was exactly the same.

She spotted the other child, Hiroto, dozing on Hiroaki's shoulder (the man had arrived just barely in time to not be called late). She smiled wistfully as she returned her gaze back to the wedding couple, whispering to Patamon what was happening now.

* * *

Sora smiled as she watched Takeru and Hikari from across the room. They looked so happy together. Yamato walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She looked at him and noticed a certain something was missing. Or rather, a certain someone. "Where's Hiroto?" she asked. Then her eye narrowed suspiciously as she added, "You didn't leave him with Akiko, did you?" The little girl had just come up to her not ten minutes ago asking about him. For all her intelligence, she was still just three years old and not high on the list of people Sora trusted to look after her son.

"Relax," Yamato said soothingly. "He's with my mom." He followed her gaze to Takeru and Hikari. "So I guess everything turned out okay in the end," he said.

Sora nodded. "I was just thinking the same thing. We've all been through so much, it's almost hard to believe that we can all have this happy ending."

"Ending? I hardly think so," Taichi said as he walked up to the pair. "Soon there will be little Takerus and Hikaris getting into just as much trouble as their parents ever did which we will have to go rescue because despite being two of the nicest people in any world, they sure do rack up the enemies."

"I suppose you're right," Sora sighed, thinking of just how true Taichi's words were. "But we'll get through it, like we always do."

"Well, we _are_ the Digidestined," Taichi said with a grin.

* * *

_Final Notes: Thanks to all my wonderful readers, old and new._


End file.
